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CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 






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^S 



FAMOUS 

Voyagers and Explorers 



BY ^/ 

SARAH KNOWLES BOLTON 

AUTHOR OF "poor BOVS WHO BEC/.ME FAMOUS," " GIRLS WHO BECAME FAMOUS," 

** FAMOUS AMERICAN AUTHORS," *' FAMOUS AMERICAN STATESMEN," 

** FAMOUS MEN OF SCIENCE," " FAMOUS EUROPEAN ARTISTS," 

"famous TYPES OF WOMANHOOD," " STORIES FROM LIFE," 

"from heart AND NATURE" (POEMS), "FAMOUS 

ENGLISH AUTHORS," " FAMOUS ENGLISH 

STATESMEN," ETC., ETC. 



NEW YORK: 46 East 14TH Street." / # i^ 

THOMAS Y. CROWELL & CO. 

BOSTON: 100 Purchase Street. 



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Copyright, 1893, 

BY 

Thomas Y. Crowell & Co. 




C. J. PETERS & SON, 

Type-Settebs and Electbotypebs, 

145 High Steeet, Boston. 



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TO 

C. E. BOLTON, 

MY HUSBAND, 

I Dedicate this Book. 



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PREFACE 



In this volume, for the most part, those explorers 
have been, chosen whose labors have been connected with 
North America. Columbus naturally comes first. Mar- 
co Pok/s book doubtless influenced Columbus in his 
search for the route to India and Cathay. Magellan 
was the first to circumnavigate the globe. Sir Walter 
Ealeigh, believing in the future of America, tried in 
vain to establish an English colony in the new world. 
Sir John Franklin, with many hardships, closed his 
pathetic and noble life in exploring our northern lati- 
tudes. The search for the North Pole has all the 
interest of a romance in the experience of Kane, 
Hall, Greely, Lockwood, and others. David Livingstone 
reveals much of Africa, and furnishes an example of 
true manhood and heroic purpose. Perry opened Japan 
to the world. Suffering and privation were the lot of 
most of these men, but by their courage and persever- 
ance they overcame great difficulties and accomplished 
important results for the benefit of mankind. 

S. K. B. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



PAG?: 

Christopher Columbus ..... , 1 

Marco Polo 73 

Ferdinand Magellan 120 

Sir Walter Raleigh 154 

Sir John Franklin, Dr. Kane, C. F. Hall, and others 235 

David Livingstone 336 

Matthew Calbraith Perry 412 

General A. W. Greely and other Arctic Explorers, 442 



Vll 



CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 



MORE than four hundred years ago^ was born in 
Genoa, Italy, a boy who was destined to become 
famous the world over. Monuments to his memory 
are in very many of the great cities. Scores of books 
have been written about him, and now in 1893 the 
country which he discovered is doing him honor by the 
greatest exposition the world has ever seen. 

Dominico Colombo, a wool-comber, and his wife 
Susannah Fontanarossa, the daughter of a wool-weaver, 
lived in a simple home in Genoa. They had five chil- 
dren, — Christof oro ; Giovanni, who died young ; Barto- 
lomeo, called later Bartholomew, who never married ; 
Giacomo, called in Spain, Diego ; and one sister, Bian- 
chinetta, who married a cheesemonger, Bavarello, and 
had one child. 

Susannah, the mother, appears to have had a little prop- 
erty, but Dominico was always unsuccessful, and died 
poor and in debt, his sons in his later years sending 
him as much money as they were able to spare. 

1 Authors differ as to the year in which Christopher was born. Wash- 
ington Irving, in liis delightful life of Columbus, thinks about the year 1435, 
and John Fiske, in his " Discovery of America," and several other historians, 
agree with him; while Justin Winsor, in his life of Columbus, thinks with 
Harrisse, Munoz, and others that he was probably born between March 15, 
1446, and March 20, 1447. Emilio Castelar in the Century for May-October, 
1892, puts the date of birth at 1433 or 1434. 

1 



2 CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 

The weavers had schools of their own in Genoa ; and 
the young Christopher learned at these the ordinary 
branches, — reading, writing, grammar, and arithmetic, 
with something of Latin and drawing. He seems to have 
been at the University of Pavia for a short time, where 
he studied geometry, geography, astronomy, and naviga- 
tion, returning to his father's house to help the family 
by wool-combing. 

The boy was eager for the sea, and at fourteen started 
out upon his life of adventure on the Mediterranean, 
under a distant relative named Colombo. His first 
voyage of which we have an account, was in a naval 
expedition fitted out in 1459 by John of Anjou, with 
the aid of Genoa, against Naples, to recover it for his 
father, Duke Eene, Count of Provence. 

This warfare lasted four years, and was unsuccessful. 
Nearly forty years later Columbus wrote concerning 
this struggle to the Spanish monarchs : " King Rene 
(whom God has taken to himself) sent me to Tunis 
to capture the galley Fernandina. Arriving at the 
island of San Pedro in Sardinia, I learned that there 
were two ships and a Caracca with the galley, which so 
alarmed the crew that they resolved to proceed no far- 
ther, but to go to Marseilles for another vessel and a 
larger crew, before which, being unable to force their 
inclinations, I apparently yielded to their wish, and, 
having first changed the points of the compass, spread 
all sail (for it was evening), and at daybreak we were 
within the Cape of Carthagena, when all believed for 
a certainty that we were nearing Marseilles.'^ 

If Columbus was born in 1435, he was at this time 
twenty-four ; a young man to-be intrusted with such an 
enterprise. 



CHBISTOPHEB COLUMBUS. 3 

These early years must have been full of danger and 
hardship. Piracy on the seas was common, and battles 
between the Italian republics almost constant. The 
young man learned to be fearless, to govern sailors well, 
and was full of the spirit of the age, — that of explo- 
ration and conquest. 

Like most other men who have come to renown, 
Columbus was an ardent seeker after knowledge- He 
read everything obtainable about navigation, astronomy, 
and the discoveries which had been made at that time. 

Portugal was showing herself foremost in all mari- 
time enterprises. This activity has been attributed, 
says Irving, to a romantic incident of the fourteenth 
century, in the discovery of the Madeira Islands. 

In the reign of Edward III. of England (1327-1378) 
Eobert Machin ^ fell in love with a beautiful girl named 
Anne Dorset. She was of a proud family, which refused 
to allow her to marry Machin, who was arrested by 
order of the king, and she was obliged to marry a noble- 
man, who took her to his estate near Bristol. 

Machin and his friends determined to rescue her 
from her hated wifehood. One of his companions be- 
came a groom in the nobleman's household, ascertained 
that she still loved Eobert, and planned with her an 
escape with him to France. 

Eiding out one day with the pretended groom, she was 
taken to a boat, and conveyed to a vessel, in which the 
lovers put out to sea. They sailed along the coast past 
Cornwall, when a storm arose, and they were driven out 
of sight of land. 

For thirteen days they were tossed about on the ocean, 

1 Enc. Brit, says •*Machim;" Winsor and Fiske and Major, "Machin;" 
Irving, " Macham.'* 



4 CHIUSTOPHEB COLUMBUS, 

and on the morning of the fourteenth day they came 
upon a beautiful island. The young wife, overcome by 
fear and remorse, had already become alarmingly ill. 
Machin carried her to the island, where he constructed 
a bower for her under a great tree, and brought her 
fruits and flowers. 

The crew stayed on the vessel to guard it till the 
party should return. A severe storm came up, and the 
ship was driven off the coast and disappeared. Anne 
now reproached herself as being the cause of all this 
disaster ; for three days she was speechless, dying with- 
out uttering a word. 

Machin was prostrated with grief and distress, that he 
had brought her to a lonely island, away from home and 
friends, to die. He died fivg days later, and at his own 
request was buried by her side at the foot of a rustic 
altar which he had erected under the great tree. 

His companions repaired the boat in which they had 
come to shore, and started upon the great ocean, hoping, 
ahnost in vain, to reach England. They were tossed 
about by the winds, and finally dashed upon the rocks 
on the coast of Morocco, where they were put in prison 
by the Moors. Here they learned that their ship had 
shared the same fate. 

The English prisoners met in prison an experienced 
pilot, Juan de Morales, a Spaniard of Seville. He 
listened with the greatest interest to their story, and 
on his release communicated the circumstances to Prince 
Henry of Portugal. 

This prince was the son of John the Eirst, surnamed 
the Avenger, and Philippa of Lancaster, sister of Henry 
IV. of England. After Prince Henry had helped his 
father in 1415 to conquer Ceuta opposite the rock of 



CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 5 

Gibraltar, and to drive the Moors into the moimtainSj he 
determined to give up war and devote himself to discov- 
ery, even though on account of his bravery he was asked 
by the Pope, Henry V. of England, John II. of Castile, 
and the Emperor Sigismund, to lead their armies. 

He made his home on the lonely promontory of Sagres, 
in the south-western part of Portugal, built an astronom- 
ical observatory, invited to his home the most learned 
men of the time in naval matters, and lived the life of 
a scholar. He spent all his fortune, and indeed became 
involved in debt, in fitting out expeditions to the coast 
of Africa, hoping to find a southern passage to the 
wealth of the Indies, and to convert the barbarians to 
Christianity. His motto was, ^^ Talent de bien f aire '^ 
(Desire to do well, or the talent to do well). 

Prince Henry's first success was the rediscovery of 
Madeira in 1418, where Eobert Machin and Anne were 
buried over seventy years before. The island of Porto 
Santo, near Madeira,* of which we shall hear more 
by and by, was discovered about this time by Bartho- 
lomew Perestrelo, who placed a rabbit with her little ones 
on the island. Years afterward these had so multiplied 
that they had devoured nearly every green thing on the 
island ; so much so, says Mr. Eiske, that Prince Henry's 
enemies, angered that he spent so much money in expe- 
ditions, declared that " God had evidently created those 
islands for beasts alone, not for men ! '' 

Through the enterprise of Prince Henry, Cape Boja- 
dor, on the western coast of Africa, was doubled in 1434 
by Gil Eannes. Heretofore it had been believed that 
if anybody ventured so near the torrid zone, he would 
never come back alive, on account of the dreadful heat 
and boisterous waves at that point. ^ 



6 CHBISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 

The coast was soon explored from Cape Blanco to Cape 
Verde. In 1460 Diego Gomez discovered the Cape Verde 
Islands, and two years later Piedro de Cintra reached 
Sierra Leone. In 1484 Diego Cam went as far as the 
mouth of the Congo, and the following year a thousand 
miles farther ; and while the Portuguese took back hun- 
dreds of negro slaves to be sold, they sent missionaries 
to teach the blacks the true faith ! 

Prince Henry had died Nov. 13, 1460, so that he did 
not live to see Africa circumnavigated by Bartholomew 
Diaz or Vasco da G-ama. 

The then known world talked about these expeditions 
of Portugal ; therefore it was not strange that Columbus, 
thirty-five years old, should make his way to Lisbon, 
about the year 1470. His younger brother, Bartho- 
lomew, was already living in Lisbon, making maps and 
globes with great skill. Columbus is described at that 
time as tall and of exceedingly fine figure, suave, yet 
dignified in manners, with fair complexion, eyes blue and 
full of expression, hair light, but at thirty white as snow 
He had the air of one born to be a leader, while he won 
friends by his frankness and cordiality. 

In Lisbon, Columbus attended services at the chapel 
of the Convent of All Saints. One of the ladies of rank, 
who either boarded at the monastery, or had some 
official connection with it, was so pleased with the evi- 
dent devotion of the young stranger, that she sought his 
acquaintance, and married him in 1473. She was his 
superior in position though without much fortune, — 
the daughter of the Bartholomew Perestrelo who, having 
discovered the island of Porto Santo, was made its 
governor by Prince Henry. Perestrelo had died sixteen 
years previously, leaving a widow, Isabella Moiiiz, and 



CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 7 

an attractive daughter, Philippa, the bride of Columbus. 
Some historians think she was not a daughter, but a near 

relative. 

The newly wedded couple went to Porto Santo to 
live with the mother, who naturally gave Columbus 
•all the charts, maps, and journals of his father-in-law. 
These he carefully studied, becoming familiar with the 
voyages made by the Portuguese. When he was not 
in service on the ocean, he earned money as before by 
making maps and charts, sending some funds to his 
impecunious father, and helping to educate his younger 
brother. 

His wife's sister had married Pedro Correo, a naviga- 
tor of some prominence, and the two men must have 
talked of possible discoveries with intense interest. 

Columbus, after much study, believed that there was 
land to the westward of Spain and Portugal. If the 
earth were a globe or sphere, then somewhere between 
Portugal and Asia it was natural to suppose that there 
was a large body of land. He had read in Aristotle, 
Seneca, and Pliny, that one might pass from Spain to 
India in a few days ; he had also read of wood and 
other articles floating from the westward to the islands, 
near the known continent. 

Martin Vicenti, a pilot in the service of the King of 
Portugal, had found a piece of carved wood four hundred 
and fifty leagues to the west of Cape St. Vincent. The 
inhabitants of the Azores had seen trunks of pine-trees 
cast upon their shores, and the bodies of two men un- 
like any known race. 

^ So deeply was Columbus impressed with the proba- 
bility of a western world, or rather that the eastern 
coast of Asia stretched far towards the west, that he wrote 



8 cnnisTOPiiER columbus, 

a letter to the learned astronomer, Paolo del Pozzio dei 
Toscanelli of Florence, in 1474, asking for his opinion 
upon the subject. The astronomer had already written a 
letter on the same matter to Alfonso V., King of Portu- 
gal, and copied this letter for Columbus, sending him 
also a chart showing what he believed to be the position 
of the Atlantic Ocean (called the Sea of Darkness), 
with Europe on the east, and Cathay (China) on the 
west. 

Toscanelli had read Marco Polo's book, and he wrote 
to Columbus concerning the wonderful Cathay where 
the great Khan lived, and where there was much gold 
and silver and spices, and a splendid island, Cipango 
(Japan), where "they cover the temples and palaces with 
solid gold." To reach these one must sail steadily west- 
ward. 

Toscanelli estimated the circumference of the earth 
at about the correct figure, but thought the distance from 
Lisbon to Quinsay (Hang-chow, China), westward, to 
be about six thousand five hundred miles, supposing 
that Asia covered nearly the whole width of the Pacific 
Ocean. 

When Columbus had sailed about one-third of the way, 
thought Toscanelli, he would come to " Antilia," or the 
Seven Islands, where seven Spanish bishops, driven out 
of Spain when the Moors captured it, had built seven 
splendid cities. Below these he placed on his map the 
island of "St Brandon," where a Scotch priest of that 
name had landed in the sixth century. None of these 
fabled islands was ever found. Columbus took this chart 
of Toscanelli's with him when he sailed for the New 
World. The aged astronomer had encouraged Colum- 
bus to persevere in a voyage " fraught with honor as it 



CHEISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 9 

must be, and inestimable gain, and most lofty fame among 
all Christian people. . . . When that voyage shall be 
accomplished, it will be a voyage to powerful kingdoms, 
and to cities and provinces most wealthy and noble, 
abounding in all things most desired by us.'' How 
literally has this come true, though Toscanelli saw only 
China in the distance ! He died in 1482, ten years 
before Columbus was able to make the long-desired 
voyage. 

Columbus, if he had not read it before, now obtained 
the book of Marco Polo, published in a Latin translation 
in 1485, a copy of which is now in the Biblioteca Colom- 
bina in Seville, with marginal notes believed to be in 
the handwriting of Columbus. He also read carefully, 
as the margin is nearly covered with his notes, "Imago 
Mundi,'' published in 1410 by Cardinal Pierre d'Ailly, 
Bishop of Cambrai, or more generally known as Peter 
Alliacus. He copied largely from Eoger Bacon, who 
had collated the writings of ancient authors to prove 
that the distance from Spain to Asia could not be very 
great. 

Columbus believed that to reach Japan he would need 
to sail only about two thousand five hundred miles from 
the Canaries. Happy error ! for where would he have 
found men willing to undertake a journey of twelve 
thousand miles across an untried ocean ? Columbus was 
eager to make the voyage, but he was poor, comparatively 
unknown, and how could it be accomplished ? It is said 
that he sought aid for his enterprise from his native 
land, Genoa, but it was not given. King Alfonso was 
engaged in a war with Spain, and therefore too busy to 
think of explorations. 

In 1481 John II., then twenty-five years old, came to 



10 CHBISTOPHER COLUMBUS, 

the throne of Portugal, and he had the same ambitions 
as his grand-uncle, Prince Henry. He knew of Marco 
Polo's account of Cathay, and he longed to make Port- 
ugal more famous by her discoveries. He called men 
of science to his aid, the celebrated Martin Behaim and 
others, the latter having invented an improved astrolobe 
enabling seamen to find their distance from the equator 
by the altitude of the sun. 

Behaim was a friend of Columbus; and, whether 
through his influence or not, the latter was encouraged 
to lay his westward scheme before John II. The king 
listened with attention, but feared the expense of fitting 
out the ships, as the African expeditions had already 
cost so much. Columbus, having great faith in his dis- 
coveries, asked for his family titles and rewards that the 
king was as yet unwilling to grant. The latter, however, 
referred the proposition to two distinguished cosniog- 
raphers, and to his confessor, the Bishop of Ceuta. 

The latter opposed the spending of more money in 
voyages, which he said '' tended to distract the attention, 
drain the resources, and divide the power of the nation.'' 
The war in which the king was engaged with the Moors 
of Barbary was sufficient " employment for the active 
valor of the nation/' the bishop said. The bishop was 
opposed by Don Pedro de Meneses, Count of Villa Real, 
who said that " although a soldier, he dared to prognos- 
ticate, with a voice and spirit as if from heaven, to 
whatever prince should achieve this enterprise, more 
happy success and durable renown than had ever been 
obtained by sovereign the most valorous and fortunate." 

King John could not bear to give up the enterprise 
entirely, as, if great achievements should be lost to 
Portugal, he would never forgive himself. An under- 



CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS, 11 

handed measure was therefore adopted. The plans of 
Columbus for this proposed voyage were laid before the 
king, and a caravel was privately sent over the route to 
see if some islands could not be discovered that might 
make the westward passage to Cathay probable. Storms 
arose, and the pilots, seeing only abroad and turbulent 
ocean, came back and reported this scheme visionary and 
absurd, Columbus soon learned of the deceit, and 
betook himself to Spain in 1485, taking with him his little 
son Diego, born in Porto Santo. He left him at Huelva, 
near Palos, with the youngest sister of his wife, who had 
married a man named Muliar. 

Authorities differ about all the early incidents of 
Columbus' life before he became noted ; but this disposi- 
tion of the son seems probable, and that he lived with 
her while his father for seven long years besought crowns 
in vain to aid him in liis grand discoveries. 

Portugal lost forever the glory she might have won. 
Columbus wrote later: "I went to make my offer to 
Portugal, whose king was more versed in discovery than 
any other. The Lord bound up his sight and all the 
senses, so that in fourteen years I could not bring him 
to heed what I said.'' 

His wife, with one child or perhaps two, was necessarily 
left behind in Portugal, where she died soon after. Some 
historians think he deserted her, but this is scarcely pos- 
sible, as under such circumstances her sister would not 
have been willing to keep the child of Columbus for 
seven years, neither would his wife's relations have re- 
mained his friends, coming to see him in Portugal just 
after he had started on his fourth voyage, and probably 
many times previously. 

Columbus departed secretly from Portugal, it is sup- 



12 cnmsTOPHER columbus. 

posed much in debt through commercial or nautical trans- 
actions, as years later King John invited him to return, 
assuring liim that he would not be arrested on any mat- 
ters pending against him. 

For many months in Spain, Columbus probably sup. 
ported himself by selling maps and printed books, which 
Harrisse thinks contained calendars and astronomical 
predictions. Yet there was ever before him the one pur- 
pose of the westward voyage. He naturally made friends 
among distinguished people on account of his intelligence 
and charm of manner, and he used all these opportunities 
to further iiis one object. 

In January, 1486, he seems to have entered the service 
of Ferdinand and Isabella, as his journal shows. About 
this time he made the acquaintance of Alonso de Quin- 
tanilla, the comptroller of the finances of Castile, and 
was a guest at his house at Cordova, and with Alexander 
Geraldini, the tutor of the royal children, and his brother 
Antonio, the papal nuncio. These friends, who became 
interested in the alert mind and far-reaching plans of the 
navigator, led to an acquaintance with Pedro Gonzales 
de Mendoza, Archbishop of Toledo and Grand Cardinal 
of Spain. He, of course, had great influence with the 
sovereigns, Ferdinand and Isabella, and helped to prepare 
their minds for a kindly reception of the projects of Co- 
lumbus. 

These monarchs were too busy conquering the Moors 
to give the plan much consideration ; but Columbus went 
before Ferdinand, and with the earnestness born of con- 
viction, explained his wishes. 

Ferdinand and Isabella ruled jointly over Aragon 
and Castile, but while their names were stamped together 
on the public coins, they had separate councils, and were 



CHIUSTOPHER COLUMBUS. 13 

often in separate parts of the country, governing their 
respective kingdoms. 

Ferdinand was of good physique, with chestnut-colored 
hair, animated in countenance, quick of speech, and a 
tireless worker. 

Irving says he was "cold, selfish, and artful. He 
was called the wise and prudent in Spain ; in Italy, tlie 
pious ; in France and England, the ambitious and per- 
fidious. He certainly was one of tlie most subtle states- 
men, but one of the most thorough egotists, that ever 
sat upon a throne.'^ 

Winsor says "his smiles and remorseless coldness were 
mixed as few could mix them even in those days. . . . 
He was enterprising in his actions, as the Moors and 
heretics found out. He did not extort money, he only 
extorted agonized confessions." 

Castelar says "he joined the strength of the lion 
to the instincts of the fox. Perchance in all history 
there has not been his equal in energy and craftiness. 
He was distrustful above all else ; ... he scrupled little 
to resort to dissimulation, deceit, and, in case of neces- 
sity, crime.'' Isa^bella, Castelar, calls, "the foremost 
and most saintly queen of Christendom." 

Irving thinks Isabella "one of the purest and most 
beautiful characters in the pages of history. She was 
well formed, of the middle size, with great dignity and 
gracefulness of deportment, and a mingled gravity and 
sweetness of demeanor. Her complexion was fair; her 
hair auburn, inclining to red ; her eyes were of a clear 
blue, with a benign expression, and there was a singular 
modesty in lier countenance, gracing, as it did, a won- 
derful firmness of purpose and earnestness of spirit. 
Though strongly attached to her husband, and studious 



14 CHIUSTOPHER COLUMBUS. 

of his fame, yet she always maintained her distinct rights 
as an allied prince. She exceeded him in beauty, in per- 
sonal dignity, in aciiteness of genius, and in grandeur of 
soul. ... 

'^ She strenuously opposed the expulsion of the Jews 
and the establishment of the Inquisition, though, unfortu- 
nately for Spain, her repugnance was slowly vanquished 
by her confessor. She was always an advocate for clem- 
ency to the Moors, although she was the soul of the war 
against Granada. She considered that war essential to 
protect the Christian faith, and to relieve her subjects 
from*fierce and formidable enemies. While all her pub- 
lic thoughts and acts were princely and august, her private 
])abits were simple, frugal, and unostentatious. 

^^In the intervals of state-business she assembled round 
her the ablest men in literature and science, and directed 
lierself by their councils, in promoting letters and arts. 
Through her patronage Salamanca rose to that height 
which it assumed among the learned institutions of the 
age.'' 

Isabella was not less brave in war than she was 
statesmanlike in peace. Several complete suits of armor, 
which she wore in her campaigns, are preserved in the 
royal arsenal at Madrid. 

Ferdinand referred the proposed expedition of Colum- 
bus to Isabella's confessor, Fernando de Talavera, one 
of the most learned men of Spain, who in turn laid 
it before a junto of distinguished men, some of them 
from the University of Salamanca. 

The meeting was held in the convent of St. Stephen, 
where Columbus was entertained during the examination. 
It must have been a time of the greatest anxiety, yet 
brightened by hope. He stated the case with his usual 
dignity and firm belief. 



CHBISTOPHEB COLUMBUS, 15 

To the majority of the junto such a plan seemed sac- 
rilegious. Some quoted from the early theological 
writers : " Is there any one so foolish as to believe that 
there are antipodes with their feet opposite to ours ; 
people who walk with their heels upward, and their heads 
hanging down ? That there is a part of the world in 
which all things are topsy-turvy ; where the trees grow 
with their branches downward, and where it rains, hails, 
and snows upward ? '' 

They opposed texts of Scripture to the earth being a 
sphere, and showed from St. Augustine that if there were 
people on the other side of a globe, they could not be 
descended from Adam, as the Bible stated, because they 
could not have crossed the intervening ocean. 

Others said that if Columbus sailed, and reached India, 
he could never get back, for, the globe being round, the 
waters would rise in a mountain, up which it would be 
impossible to sail. Others, with more wisdom, said that 
the earth was so large that it would take three years to 
sail around it, and that provisions could not be taken for 
so long a voyage. 

Columbus maintained that the inspired writers were not 
speaking as cosmographers, and that the early fathers 
were not necessarily philosophers or scientists, and he 
quoted from the Bible verses which he believed pointed 
to the sublime discovery which he proposed. Diego de 
Deza, a learned friar, afterwards Archbishop of Seville, 
the second ecclesiastical dignitary of Spain, was won by 
the arguments of Columbus, and became an earnest 
co-worker. Other conferences took place, but nothing 
decisive was accomplished. 

When the monarchs were in some protracted siege for 
several months, like that at Malaga, Columbus would be 



16 CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 

summoned to a conference ; but, for one reason or another, 
it would be postponed. " Often in these campaigns/^ says 
an old chronicler, '• Columbus was found fighting, giring 
proofs of the distinguished valor which accompanied his 
wisdom and his lofty desires.'^ 

Whenever Columbus was summoned to follow the 
court, he was attached to the royal suite, and his ex- 
penses provided for. During the intervals he supported 
himself as before by his maps and charts. He was con- 
stantly ridiculed as a dreamer, so that it is said the chil- 
dren in the streets made fun of him. '' He went about 
so ill-clad,^^ says Castelar, " that he was named the 
' Stranger with the Threadbare Cloak.' '' 

In the midst of all these delays and bitterness of 
soul and exposures in war, Columbus, when he was not 
far from fifty years old, fell in love with a beautiful 
young woman, Beatrix Enriquez Arana, of a noble fam- 
ily, but reduced in fortune. Her brother was the inti- 
mate friend of Columbus. In 1488, Aug. 15, a son 
Ferdinand was born to Beatrix and Columbus, who 
became in after years a noted student and book col- 
lector, the biographer of his father, and the owner of a 
library of over twenty thousand volumes, bought in all 
the principal book marts of Europe. Eerdinand left 
money to the Cathedral of Seville, for the care of this 
library ; but for some centuries it was neglected, even 
children, it is said, being allowed to roam in the halls, 
and destroy the valuable treasures. 

Columbus seems to have been tenderly attached to 
Beatrix as long as lie lived, and provided for her in his 
will, at his death, enjoining his son Diego to care for 
her. She survived Columbus many years, he dying in 
1506; and Mr. Winsor thinks she unquestionably sur- 



CHlilSTOPBER COLUMBUS. 17 

vived the making of Diego's will in 1523, seventeen 
years after his father's death. 

Among the noted personages whom Columbus tried to 
interest in his plans, either when he first came to Spain, 
as Irving and Castelar think, or some years later, accord- 
ing to Harrisse, Winsor, Fiske, and others, were the 
rich and powerful dukes, Medina-Sidonia and Medina- 
Celi. These had great estates along the seacoast, and 
owned ships of their own. The former was at first inter- 
ested, but finally refused to assist. 

• The latter, Luis de la Cerda, made sovereign of the 
Canaries by Pope Clement VI., with the title of Prince 
of Fortune, took Columbus to his own elegant castle and 
made it his home for two years. He was a learned man, 
and he and Columbus studied the stars and navigation 
together. He was desirous of fitting out some vessels 
for the enterprise of Columbus ; but fearing that the 
monarchs would oppose such a work by a private indi- 
vidual, he remained inactive. Finally Columbus deter- 
mined to appeal to the King of France for aid — he had 
already sent Bartholomew, his brother, to Henry VII. of 
England, to ask his help ; but Bartholomew was captured 
by pirates, and was not heard from for some years. 

Medina-Celi, fearing that some other country would 
win the renown of a great discovery which he felt sure 
Columbus would make, wrote an urgent letter to the 
monarchs, offering to fit out two or three caravels for 
Columbus, and have a share in the profits of the voy- 
age ; but Isabella refused, saying that she had not de- 
cided about the matter. 

Columbus was growing heart-sick with his weary 
waiting. The city of Baza, besieged for more than six 
months, had surrendered Dec. 22, 1489, to Spain, Muley 



18 CIIRISrOPIlER COLUMBUS, 

Boabdil, the elder of the two rival kings of Granada, 
giving up all his possessions, and Ferdinand and Isabella 
had entered Seville in triumph in February of 1490. 
Great rejoicing soon followed over the marriage of their 
daughter. Princess Isabella, with the heir to the throne 
of Portugal, Don Alonzo. 

As the summer passed Columbus heard that the mon- 
archs w^ere to proceed against the younger Moorish king. 
He had become impatient with this constant procrasti- 
nation, and had pressed the sovereigns for a decision. 
He was fifty-five years old, and life was slipping by, with 
nothing accomplished. Talavera, who cared for little 
except to see the Moors conquered, finally presented the 
matter before another junto, who decided that the plan 
was vain and impossible. 

But the sovereigns, not quite willing to let a possible 
achievement slip from their grasp, sent word to Colum- 
bus that when the war was over they would gladly take 
up the matter, and give it careful attention. Columbus 
determined to hear from their own lips that for which he- 
had waited nearly seven long years in useless hope, and 
repaired at once to Seville. The reply was as before, 
and, poor, and growing old, he turned his back upon 
Spain to seek the assistance of France. 

He went to Huelva for his boy, Diego, possibly to leave 
him with Beatrix and the child Ferdinand, then three 
years old ; and when about half a league from Palos, 
stopped at the convent of La Rabida, dedicated to Santa 
Maria de Eabida. It belonged to the Franciscan friars, 
a lonely place on a height above the ocean. 

Columbus was walking — he had no money to pay for 
travelling — was leading his boy by the hand, and stopped 
to ask for some bread and water for his child. The friar 



CURISTOPIJER COLUMBUS, 19 

of the convent^ Juan Perez, happening to pass by, was 
struck by the appearance of the white-haired man, and 
entered into conversation with him, Juan Perez was a 
man of much information, had been confessor to tlie 
queen, and was deeply interested in the plans of Colum- 
bus. He asked him to remain as his guest at the con- 
vent, and sent for his friend, Garcia Fernandez, a 
physician of Palos, and a well-read man, and Martin 
Alonzo Pinzon, a wealthy navigator, to talk with this 
stranger. Pinzon at once offered to help furnish money 
and to go in person on the hazardous voyage. 

Perez, loyal to Isabella, felt that France ought not to 
win such honor, when it lay at the very door of Spain. 
He proposed to write to Isabella at once ; and Colum- 
bus, with probably but little hope at this late day, con- 
sented to remain until an answer was received from her. 

Sebastian Rodriguez, a pilot of Lepe, and a man of 
some note, was chosen to bear the precious letter. He 
found access to the queen, who wrote a letter to Juan 
Perez, thanking him for his timely message, and asking 
that he come immediately to court. 

At the end of fourteen days Rodriguez returned, and 
the little company at the convent rejoiced with renewed 
hopes. The good friar saddled liis mule, and before mid- 
night was on his way to Santa Fe, the military city 
where the queen was stationed while pressing the siege 
of Granada. 

The letter of Medina-Celi had influenced her; and her 
best friend and companion, the Marchioness Moya, a 
woman of superior ability, was urging her to aid Colum- 
bus and thus bring great renown to herself and to Spain. 

Juan Perez pressed his suit warmly, with the result 
that Isabella sent Columbus twenty thousand maravedis 



20 CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 

(Mr. Fiske says one thousand, one hundred and eighty 
dollars of our money) to buy proper clothing to appear 
at court, and to provide himself with a mule for the 
journey. 

Bidding good-by to the rejoicing company at La Ea- 
bida, Columbus, accompanied by Juan Perez, started 
early in December, 1491, on their mules, for the royal 
camp at Santa Fe. 

Alonso de Quintanilla, his former friend, the account- 
ant-general, received Columbus cordially, and provided 
for his entertainment. The queen could not receive him 
just then; for Boabdil, the last of the Moorish kings, 
was about to surrender Granada, which he did January 
2, 1492, giving up the keys of the gorgeous Alhambra to 
the Spanish sovereigns. 

At the surrender Ferdinand was dressed in his royal 
robes, his crimson mantle lined with ermine, and his 
plumed cap radiant with jewels, while about him were 
brilliantly clad officials on their richly caparisoned horses. 
Boabdil wore black, as befitting his sad defeat. He at- 
tempted to dismount and kneel before Ferdinand ; but this 
the latter would not permit, so he imprinted a kiss upon 
Ferdinand's right arm. 

After having surrendered the two great keys of the 
city, Boabdil said to the knight who was to rule over 
Granada, liiigo Lopez de Mendoza, taking from his own 
finger a gold ring set with a precious jewel, and handing 
it to Mendoza, ^^With this signet has Granada been 
governed. Take it, that you may rule the land ; and 
may Allah prosper your power more than he hath pros- 
pered mine." 

After this Boabdil met the queen in royal attire seated 
upon her horse, her son, Prince Juan, in the richest gar- 



CHIilSTOPHER COLUMBUS. 21 

ments on horseback at her rights and the princess and 
ladies of her court at her left. Here Boabdil knelt before 
the queen. His first-born had been kept by his enemies 
as a hostage, and he was there returned to his father, 

" Hitherto/' says Castelar, " Boabdil had shed no tear, 
but now^ on beholding again the son of Moraima, his be- 
loved, he pressed his face against the face of the poor 
child and wept passionately of the abundance of his 
heart." 

The time had come for Columbus to meet Isabella. 
When in her presence he stipulated that if the voyage 
were undertaken, he should be made admiral and viceroy 
over the countries discovered, and receive the tenth part 
of the revenues from the lands, either by trade or con- 
quest. The conditions were not harder than those of 
subsequent voyagers, but to the courtiers and to Talavera 
such demands made by a threadbare navigator seemed 
absurd. Talavera represented to Isabella that it would be 
degrading so to exalt an ordinary man and, as he thought, 
an adventurer. 

More moderate terms were offered Columbus, but he 
declined them ; and, more sick at heart than ever, he 
mounted his mule, in the beginning of February, 1492, 
and turned back to Cordova and La Eabida, on his way 
to France. 

Alonso de Quintanilla, and Luis de Santangel, receiver 
of the ecclesiastical revenues in Aragon, were distressed 
beyond measure at this termination of the meeting. 
They rushed into the queen's presence and eloquently 
besought her to reconsider the matter, reminding her 
how much she could do for the glory of God and the re- 
nown of Spain by some grand discoveries. Tlie Marchion- 
ess Mo3^a, Beatrix de Bobadilla, added all the fervor of 
her nature to the request. 



22 CUBISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 

Ferdinand looked coldly upon the project. The treas- 
ury of the country- was exhausted by the late wars. 
Finally, with her woman's heart responsive to heroic 
deeds, aad a far-sightedness beyond that of the doubting 
Ferdinand, she said, ^^I undertake the enterprise for 
my own crown of Castile, and will pledge my jewels to 
raise the necessary funds.'' 

'' This," truly says Irving, " was the proudest moment 
in the life of Isabella ; it stamped her renown forever 
as the patroness of the discovery of the New World." 

Isabella did not have to part with her jewels, as the 
funds were raised by Santangel from his private reve- 
nues, and it is now generally believed that no help was 
given by Ferdinand. It is quite probable that the queen 
pledged her jewels as security for the loan by Santangel. 

A courier was sent in all haste after Columbus, who 
was found about six miles out of Granada, crossing the 
bridge of Pinos. When he was told that the queen 
wished to see him, he hesitated for a moment, lest the 
old disappointment should be in store for him ; but Avhen 
it was asserted that she had given a positive promise to 
undertake the enterprise, he turned his mule toward 
Santa Fe, and hastened back joyfully to Isabella's pres- 
ence. 

The queen received him wdth great benignity, and 
granted all the concessions he had asked. He, at his own 
suggestion, by the assistance of the Pinzons of Palos, 
was to bear one-eighth of the expense, which he did 
later. The papers were signed at Santa Fe April 17, 
1492, and on May 12 (his son Diego having been four days 
previously appointed page to the prince-apparent) he set^ 
out joyfully for Palos to prepare for the long-hoped-for 
voyage. 



CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS, 23 

On arriving at Palos he went immediately to the con- 
vent of La Rabida, and he and Juan Perez rejoiced 
together. On the morning of May 23 the two proceeded 
to the church of St. George in Palos, where many of the 
leading people had been notified to be present, and there 
gave the royal order by which two caravels or barks, with 
their crews, were to be ready for sea in ten days, Palos, 
for some misdemeanor, having been required to furnish 
two armed caravels to the crown for one year. A certih- 
cate of good conduct from Columbus was considered a 
discharge of obligation to the monarchs. To any person 
willing to engage in the expedition, all criminal pro- 
cesses against them or their property were to be suspended 
during absence. 

When it was known tliat the vessels were to go on an 
untried ocean, perhaps never to return, the men were 
filled with terror and refused to obey the royal decree. 
Weeks passed and nothing was accomplished. Mobs 
gathered as men were pressed into the service. 

Finally, through the influence of the Pinzons, and more 
royal commands, the three vessels were made ready. The 
largest, which was decked, called the Santa Maria, be- 
longed to Juan de la Cosa, who now commanded her, 
with Sancho Ruiz and Pedro Alonzo Nino for his pilots. 
She was ninety feet long by twenty feet broad, and was 
the Admiral's flag-ship. 

The other open vessels were the Pinta, commanded by 
Martin Alonzo Pinzon, with his brother, Francisco Mar- 
tin Pinzon, as pilot, and the Nina (Baby), commanded by 
another brother, Vicente Yaiiez Pinzon. On board the 
three ships were one hundred and twenty persons ac- 
cording to Irving, but according to Ferdinand, the son of 
Columbus, and Las Casas, ninety persons. 



24 CTIRISTOPIIER COLUMBUS. 

Isabella paid towards this equipment 1,14:0^000 mara- 
vedisj probably equal to about $67,500 ; while Columbus 
raised 500,000 maravedis, or $29,500. 

The vessels being ready for sea, Columbus, his officers, 
and crews partook of the sacrament, and made confession 
to Friar Juan Perez, and on Friday — this was considered 
a lucky day, as Granada was taken on Friday, and the 
first crusade under Godfrey of Bouillon had taken Jerusa- 
lem on the same day — Aug. 3, 1492, half an hour before 
sunrise, with many tears and lamentations, they sailed 
away from Palos toward an unknown land. A deep gloom 
came over the people of Palos, for they never expected 
to see their loved ones again. For three hours Perez and 
his friends watched the fading sails till they disappeared 
from sight. 

On the third day at sea the rudder of the Pinta was 
found to be broken, and Columbus surmised that it had 
happened purposely, as the owners of the boat, Gomez 
Rascon and Christoval Quintero, were on board, and hav- 
ing been pressed into service against their will, were 
glad of any excuse to turn back. 

By care she was taken on Aug. 9 as far as the Canary 
Islands, where Columbus hoped to replace her by another 
vessel ; but after three weeks, and no prospect of another 
ship, they were obliged to make a new rudder for the 
Pinta and go forward. 

On the 6th of September, early in the morning, they 
sailed away from the island of Gomera, and were soon 
out of sight of land. The hearts of the seamen now 
failed them, and rugged sailors wept like children. 
The admiral tried to comfort them with the prospect of 
gold and precious stones in India and Cathay, enough to 
make them all rich. 



CIIRISTOPIJEIt COLUMBUS. 25 

Seeing their terror as well as real sorrow at being 
alone on the ocean^ he deceived them as to the distance 
from their homes, by keeping two reckonings, — one cor- 
rect for himself, one false for them. The sailors were 
constantly anxious and distrustful. They were alarmed 
when they saw the peak of Teneriffe in the Canaries in 
eruption, and now the deflection of the compass-needle 
away from the pole-star made them sure that the very 
laws of nature were being changed on this wild and 
unknown waste of waters. 

On Sept. 16 they sailed into vast masses of seaweeds, 
abounding in fish and crabs. They were eight hundred 
niiU\s from the Canaries, in the Sargasso Sea, which was 
two thousand fathoms' or more than two miles in depth. 
They feared they should be stranded, and could be 
convinced to the contrary only when their lines were 
thrown into the sea and failed to touch bottom. 

Almost daily they thought they saw land ; now it was 
a mirage at sunrise or sunset ; now two pelicans came on 
board, and these Columbus felt sure did not go over 
twenty leagues from land ; now they caught a bird with 
feet like a sea-fowl, and were certain that it was a river- 
bird; now singing land birds, as they thought, hovered 
about the ship. 

They began to grow restless so often were they dis- 
appointed. They were borne westward by the trade 
winds, and they feared that the wind would always pre- 
vail from the east, so that they would never get back to 
Spain. 

They finally began to murmur against Columbus, that 
he was an Italian, and did not care for Spaniards ; and 
they talked among themselves of an easy way to be rid of 
him by the single thrust of a poniard. Columbus knew 



26 CHRISTOPHEB COLUMBUS. 

of their mutinous spirit, and sometimes soothed and 
sometimes threatened them with punishment. 

On Sept. 25 Martin Alonzo Pinzon thought lie beheld 
land to the south-west, and, mounting on the stern of his 
vessel, cried, " Land ! X*and ! Senor, I claim my re- 
ward ! '' The sovereign had offered a prize of ten thou- 
sand maravedis to the one who should first discover land, 

Columbus threw himself upon his knees and gave 
thanks to God, and Martin repeated the Gloria in excelsis, 
in which all the crew joined. Morning put an end to 
their vision of land, and they sailed on as before, ever 
farther from home and friends. 

So many times the crew thought they discerned land 
and gave a false alarm, afterwards growing more discon- 
tented, that Columbus declared that all such should 
forfeit their claim to the award, unless land were dis- 
covered in three days. 

On the morning of Oct. 7 the crew of the Nina 
were sure they saw land, hoisted the flag at her mast- 
head, and discharged a gun, the preconceii;ed signals, but 
they soon found that they had deceived themselves. 

The crews now became dejected. They had come 
2,724 miles from the Canaries, and this was farther than 
Columbus had supposed Cipango (Japan) to be. He de- 
termined therefore to sail west south-west, instead of due 
west. If he had kept on his course he would have 
touched Florida. Field birds came flying about the 
ships, and a heron, a pelican, and a duck were seen ; but 
the sailors murmured more and more, and insisted upon 
his turning homeward, and giving up a useless voyage. 

He endeavored to pacify at first, and then he told 
them, happen what might, he should press on to the 
Indies. 



, CURISTOPllER COLUMBUS. 27 

The next day the indications of land grew stronger; 
a green fish of a kind vv^hich lives on rocks was seen, a 
branch of hawthorn with berries on it, and a staff arti- 
ficially carved. Not an eye was closed that night, 
Columbus having promised a doublet of velvet in addi- 
tion to the prize offered by the sovereigns to the first 
discoverer of land. As evening came on Columbus took 
his position on the foremost part of his vessel, and 
watched intently. About ten o'clock he thought he saw 
a light in the distance, and called to Pedro Gutierrez 
chamberlain in the king's service, who confirmed it. 
He then called Eodrigo Sanchez, but by that time the 
light had disappeared. Once or twice afterward they 
saw it as though some person were carrying it on shore 
or in a boat, tossed by waves. 

At two in the morning on Friday of Oct. 12 the 
Pinta, which sailed faster than the other ships, descried 
the land two leagues away. Eodrigo de Triana of Se- 
ville first saw it ; but the award was given to Columbus, 
as he had first seen the light. 

A thrill of joy and thanksgiving ran through every 
heart. Columbus hastily threw his scarlet cloak about 
him, and with one hand grasping his sword and tlie other 
the cross, standing beneath the royal banner, gold em- 
broidered with F. and Y. on either side, the initials of 
Ferdinand and Ysabel, surmounted by crowns, he and 
his followers put out to shore in a little boat. As soon 
as he landed he knelt on the earth, kissed it, and gave 
thanks to God with tears, all joining him in the Te 
Deum. 

His men gathered about him, embraced him while they 
wept, begged his forgiveness for their mutinous spirit, 
and promised obedience in the future. 



28 CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 

The naked natives, filled witli awe at these -beings in 
armor, whom they supposed had come from heaven, — 
alas ! that they should have been so pitifully deceived, 
— fled to the woods at first, but soon came close to the 
Spaniards, felt of thei'r white beards, touched their white 
skin, so unlike their own, and were as gentle as children. 
When a sword was shown them, they innocently took it 
by the edge. They received eagerly the bells and red 
caps which Columbus offered them, and gave cakes of 
bread, called cassava, parrots, and cotton yarn in ex- 
change. 

The island upon which Columbus probably landed was 
called by the natives Guanahani, now San Salvador, 
one of the Bahama group. It has never been fully 
settled upon which of the group Columbus landed, many 
believing it to have been Watling's Island. 

Columbus was amazed at the canoes of the people, a 
single tree trunk being hollowed out sufficiently to hold 
forty or forty-five men. He wrote in his journal : 
^^Some brought us water; others things to eat; others, 
when they saw that I went not ashore, leaped into the 
sea, swimming, and came, and, as we supposed, asked us 
if we were come from heaven ; and then came an 
old man into the boat, and all men and women, in a 
loud voice cried, ^ Come and see the men who came 
from heaven ; bring them food and drink.' " 

The people had some bits of gold about them, in their 
noses and elsewhere ; and as gold was ever the dream of 
the Spanish discoverer, they were eagerly questioned as to 
where the precious metal was to be obtained. Columbus 
understood them to say farther south, so while he be- 
lieved he had touched the Indies, he must go still farther 
for the wonderful Cipango. 



CHIUSTOPHER COLUMBUS. 2& 

He seized seven Indians and took them on board to 
learn the Spanish language and become interpreters. 
Two of them soon escaped, as they naturally loved their 
homes and their people. 

Columbus has been severely censured for his course 
towards the Indians, then and later; but it is becoming 
in us Americans to deal leniently with the early discov- 
erers, when we remember how a Christian nation has 
treated the Indians through four centuries. The blame 
cannot be put entirely upon Indian agents ; our people 
have shown the same eager desires for their land as the 
Spaniards. We have forgotten to keep our promises, 
and these things have been permitted by those in exalted 
official position. 

After having investigated the island upon which he 
landed, Columbus reached another island Oct. 15, which 
he called Santa Maria de la Conception, and on Oct. 
16 another, which he called Fernandina. The little 
houses of the people were neat. They used hamacs 
for beds, nets hung from posts ; hence our word ham- 
mocks. They had dogs which could not bark. Colum- 
bus named the next island which he found Isabella, and 
then, Oct. 28, reached Cuba, where he hoped, from the 
half-understood natives, that gold would be obtained 
in abundance. He found luxuriant vegetation, brilliant 
birds and flowers, fish which rivalled the birds in color, 
a beautiful river, a country where " one could live for- 
ever,'' he said. ''It is the most beautiful island that 
eyes ever beheld, full of excellent ports and profound 
rivers." The tropical nights filled him with admiration. 
Nothing was wanting to the scene but the great Kublai 
Khan of Cathay with his enormous wealth described 
by Marco Polo, and the gold for which the Spaniards 



so CHEISTOPIJER COLUMBUS, 

agonized, as a proof to their sovereign that they had 
found the westward passage to Asia. 

Imagining that a great king must live in the centre of 
the island, Columbus sent two Spaniards, Rodrigo de 
Jerez and Luis de Torres, a converted Jew who knew 
Hebrew, Chaldaic, and Arabic, with two Indians as 
guides to the supposed monarch. They took presents 
to this king, and started on their will-o'-the-wisp journey. 

After going twelve leagues a village of a thousand 
people was found. The natives offered them fruits and 
vegetables, and kissed their hands and feet in token of 
submission or adoration of such wonderful beings. The 
Spaniards saw no gold and no monarch ; and, on their 
return, Columbus was obliged to give up some of his 
hopes about Cathay and gold-covered houses. 

The natives were seen to roll a leaf, and, lighting one 
end of it, put the other in their mouth and smoke it. 
'^ The Spaniards," says Irving, " were struck with aston- 
ishment at this singular and apparently nauseous indul- 
gence." The leaf was tobacco, -^they called it tobacos, — 
and the habit of barbarians has been easily copied by 
civilized men. The natives said bohio, wliich means 
house, and which they applied to a populous place like 
Hispaniola or Hayti ; sometimes they said quisqueya, 
that is, the whole ; and Columbus, thinking they meant 
the Quinsay (Hangchow) of Marco Polo, once more 
started in his search for wealth, and on the evening of 
Dec. 6 entered a harbor at the western end of Hayti. 

The natives had fled in terror ; so Columbus sent some 
armed men to the interior, accompanied by Indian in- 
terpreters. They found a village of about a thousand 
houses, whose inmates all fled, but were reassured by 
the interpreters, who told them that these strangers were 



CIIUI STOP HER COLUMBUS, 31 

descended from the skies, and went about making pre- 
cious and beautiful presents. A naked young woman 
had been seized by the Spaniards ; but Columbus gave 
her clothing and bells, and released her so as to win the 
others to friendliness. Her husband now came to the 
nine armed men and thanked them for her safe return 
and for the gifts. 

While Columbus was at Hayti a young chief visited 
him, borne by four men on a sort of litter, and attended 
by two hundred subjects. The subjects remained out- 
side of Columbus's cabin, while two old men entered with 
the chief and sat at his feet. He spoke but little, but 
gave the admiral a curious belt and two pieces of gold, 
for which Columbus in return presented him with a piece 
of cloth, several amber beads, colored shoes, and a flask 
of orange-water. In the evening he was sent on shore 
with great ceremony, and a salute fired in his honor. 

Later Columbus received a request from a greater 
chief, Guacanagari, that he would come with his ships 
to his part of the island ; but as the wind then prevented, 
a small party of Spaniards visited him and were most 
hospitably received. 

On the morning of Dec. 24 Columbus started to visit 
this chief; and when they had come within a league 
of his residence, the sea being calm and the admiral 
having retired, his vessel, the Santa Maria, ran upon a 
sandbank and quickly went to pieces. When the chief 
heard of the shipwreck he shed tears, sent his people to 
unload the vessel and guard the contents, and his family 
to cheer the admiral, assuring him that everything he 
possessed was at the disposal of Columbus. All the 
crew went on board the little Nina, and later were enter- 
tained by Guacanagari. 



32 CBRISTOPIIEE COLUMBUS, 

He presented Columbus with a carved mask of wood, 
with the eyes and ears of gold; and perceiving that the 
eyes of the Spaniards glistened whenever they saw gold, 
he had all brought to them which could be obtained, 
even his own coronet' of gold, for which they gave bells, 
nails, or any trifle, though sometimes cloth and shoes. 
Columbus wrote, "So loving, so tractable, so peaceable 
are these people, that I swear to your majesties there i? 
not in the world a better nation, nor a better land. They 
love their neighbors as themselves ; and their discourse 
is ever sweet and gentle, and accompanied with a smile ; 
and though it is true that they are naked, yet their man- 
ners are decorous and praiseworthy." The Pinta had 
apparently deserted — Columbus and Pinzon had differed 
with each other several times — for she was nowhere to 
be found ; and with only the Niiia, and winter coming 
on, he deemed it wise to return to Spain and make a 
report to his sovereigns. 

The little vessel could not hold all the crew ; and sev- 
eral begged to remain, as the warm climate and indolent 
life suited them. A fort was therefore built from the 
timbers of the wrecked Santa Maria, the Indians help- 
ing in the labor ; and in ten days La Navidad, or the 
Nativity, in memorial of the shipwreck on Christmas, 
was ready for the ammunition and stores, enough for a 
year, and for the thirty-nine who were to remain. The 
command was given to Diego de Arana of Cordova, a 
cousin of Beatrix, — the relatives of Beatrix, and the 
money of the family, although not great in quantity, were 
always at the service of Columbus, 

Warning his comrades who were to be left behind not 
to stray beyond the friendly country of Guacanagari, to 
treat him with the greatest respect, and to gather a ton 



CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS, 83 

of gold in his absence if possible, Columbus, after a 
sad parting, sailed homeward Jan. 4, 1493. 

After two days they came upon the lost Pinta, Pinzon 
explaining his desertion by stress of weather. He was 
very glad to return with the admiral to Spain, although 
a heavy storm coming up, they parted company, and did 
not meet again till they were in their own country. 

On Feb. 12 a violent storm plac.ed Coluuibus in so 
much danger in his open boat that, fearful lest all 
should be lost, and no report of his discoveries reach 
Spain, he wrote on parchment two accounts, wrapped 
each in cloth, then in a cake of wax, and enclosed each 
in a barrel. One was thrown into the sea, and the other 
left on board the Nina, to float in case she should sink. 

On the homeward journey they were obliged to put into 
the Azores, where a party of five going to a little chapel 
of the Virgin to give thanks for their deliverance from 
shipwreck were seized by OTder of the Portuguese gov- 
ernor of the island. They were finally released, as such 
an act might make unpleasant complications with Spain. 

A little later a storm drove the Nina on the coast of 
Portugal, and Columbus and his crew took refuge in the 
river Tagus. The King of Portugal sent for him, received 
him with much honor, but tried to show that he had 
trespassed upon undiscovered ground granted the king by 
the Pope. After some parleying he was allowed to depart ; 
and at noon, March 15, the Niiia entered the harbor of 
Palos, from which she had departed seven months 
before. 

All business was suspended. The bells were rung, and 
the returned Admiral and his men were the heroes of the 
time. The Pinta soon arrived, having been driven by a 
storm to Bayonne, from whence Pinzon wrote to the sov- 



34 CURISTOPIIER COLUMBUS, 

ereigns of his intended visit to court. He kept apart 
from Columbus, some historians say, from fear of arrest 
for desertion, and died in his own house in Palos not 
many days afterwards. The degree of nobility was 
afterwards conferred upon the Pinzons by Charles V. 

Columbus repaired to Seville, after sending a letter to 
the sovereigns, who were with their court at Barcelona. 
They replied at oncp, asking him to repair immediately 
to court, and to make plans for a second expedition to 
the Indies. 

On his journey to Barcelona the people thronged out 
of the villages to meet the now famous discoverer. They 
were eager to see the six Indians w^hom he had brought, 
— of the ten, one had died on the passage, and three 
were ill at Palos. 

About the middle of April he arrived at Barcelona, 
where every preparation had been made to give him a 
magnificent reception. He was no longer the unknown 
Italian, begging at royal doors for seven years for aid to 
seek a new world ; but he came now like a conqueror who 
had helped to make Spain rich and honored by his great 
discoveries. 

At Barcelona the streets were almost impassable from 
the multitude. First came the Indians with their war- 
paint, feathers, and ornaments of gold ; then birds, ani- 
mals, and plants from across the seas, and then Colum- 
bus on horseback surrounded by richly dressed Spanish 
cavaliers. 

The sovereigns on their thrones under a golden canopy, 
Prince Juan at their side, attended by all the dignitaries 
of court, waited to receive the Admiral. When Colum- 
bus approached the sovereigns they arose as if receiving 
a person of the highest rank. Bending before them, 



CHEISTOPnEB COLUMBUS, 85 

they raised him graciously, and bade him seat himself in 
their presence, an unusual honor. 

At their request, he eloquently described the lands he 
had found, with the great wealth that must finally come 
to their throne. The sovereigns and all present fell 
upon their knees, while the choir of the royal chapel 
chanted the Te Deum laicdamus. When Columbus left 
the royal presence all the court followed him, as well as 
crowds of the people. 

He renewed within his own breast a vow previously 
made, that with the money obtained by these discover- 
ies, he would equip a great army and secure the Holy 
Sepulchre at Jerusalem from the Turks. 

Columbus and his discoveries were everywhere talked 
of. At the court of Henry VII. in England it was ac- 
counted a " thing more divine than human." Bartholo- 
mew Columbus had obtained the consent of Henry to fit 
out an expedition ; but about this time Isabella decided 
in its favor, so the renown of it was ^ st to England. 

While at Barcelona, Columbus Avas at all times admitted 
to the royal presence, and rode on horseback on one side 
of the king, while Prince Juan rode on the other. A 
court of arms was assigned him. The Grand Cardinal 
of Spain, Mendoza, made a banquet for him, at which is 
said to have occurred the incident of the egg, A cour- 
tier asked Columbus if he had not discovered the Indies, 
whether it was not probable some one else would have 
done so. The Admiral took an egg and asked the com- 
pany to made it stand on end. Each one attempted, but 
in vain, when Columbus struck it upon the table, break- 
ing the end, so that it would stand upright, as much as 
to say, after he had shown the way to the Indies, others 
could easily follow. 



36 CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 

Columbus must have enjoyed tins courtesy, " the only 
unalloyed days of happiness/' says Winsor, ^^ freed of 
anxiety, which he ever experienced." 

Men and means were not wanting for the second voy- 
age of Columbus. He did not need now to take crimi- 
nals and debtors. Bishop Fonseca, archdeacon of Seville, 
was put in charge of Indian affairs. Money was raised 
from the confiscated property of the banished Jews, 
and five million maravedis were loaned from Medina- 
Sidonia. Artillery amassed during the Moorish wars was 
quickly brought forward. Men of prominent station 
and rich young Spaniards, anxious for adventure, were 
eager to go in the ships, besides several priests, intended 
for the conversion of the savages. 

Seventeen vessels were soon in readiness. Horses 
and other animals, seeds, agricultural implements, rice, 
and other things were provided. About fifteen hundred 
persons, though many had been refused, were ready to 
sail. Among them were Diego, a brother of Columbus ; 
the father and uncle of the noble historian. Las Casas; 
Juan Ponce de Leon, who later discovered Florida, and 
four of the six Indians who went to Barcelona. The 
latter had been baptized, with the king and queen as 
godfather and godmother. 

All was now ready for the second voyage. It could 
not of course be like the first. That, as Mr. Fiske 
well says, is ^^a unique event in the history of man- 
hood. Nothing like it was ever done before, and noth- 
ing like it can ever be done again. No worlds are left 
for a future Columbus to conquer. The era of which 
this great Italian mariner was the most illustrious repre- 
sentative has closed forever." 

The vessels sailed on the morning of Sept. 25, 1493, 



I 






CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS, 37 

from the bay of Cadiz^ and after an uneventful voyage 
reached land JSTov. 3^ discovering several islands, Domin- 
ica, Marie-Galante, Guadaloupe, Antigua, and Porto E/ico. 
The natives fled in terror from the Spaniards, even leav- 
ing their children behind them in their flight. These 
the Spaniards soothed with bells and other trinkets. 

Their houses were made of trunks of trees interwoven 
with reeds and thatched with palm-leaves. There were 
many geese, like those of Europe, great parrots, and an 
abundance of pineapples. The natives were cannibals 
and ate their prisoners. Their arrows were pointed with 
fish-bones, poisoned by the juice of an herb. 

On Nov. 22 the ships arrived off the eastern part of 
Hayti, or Hispaniola. As some of the mariners were 
going along the coast, they found on the banks of a 
stream the bodies of a man and boy, the former with 
a cord of Spanish grass about his neck, and his arms ex- 
tended and tied to a stake in the form of a cross. They 
at once feared that evil had befallen Arana and his gar- 
rison of thirty-nine men at La Navidad, whom they had 
left the previous Christmas, eleven months before. 

When they reached the fortress nothing was left of 
it. Broken utensils and torn clothes were scattered in 
the grass. They found the graves of the men, long since 
dead, for the grass was growing over the mounds. 

Columbus soon heard the story of their ruin. The 
thirty-nine men in the fortress began to quarrel among 
themselves after the departure of the Admiral, stole the 
wives and daughters of the Indians, and several of them 
went into the interior of the island ruled by Caonabo, 
a renowned chief of the Caribs or Cannibals. These 
Caonabo at once put to death, and then marched against 
the fort, and in the dead of night destroyed all the in- 



38 CHEISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 

mates. Guacanagari and his subjects fought for their 
guests, those in the fortress having been intrusted to the 
care of the Indian chief by Columbus, but were overpow- 
ered, the chief wounded, and his village burnt to the 
ground. AH this was disheartening to the young cava- 
liers who had come to find wealth and happiness. 

It soon became necessary to begin another town, as 
the cattle, as well as men, were suffering from confine- 
ment on shipboard. Early in December streets were 
laid out, a church, storehouse, and house for the Admiral 
built of stone, and the town of Isabella was established 
on the northern shore of Hayti, in the new world. 

In a short time half the fifteen hundred persons who 
came from Spain were ill. They were not used to labor ; 
the country was malarious; they were disappointed and 
lonely, and this condition of mind wore upon their 
bodies. They had all hoped for gold, and there was 
none at hand, nor any prospect of wealth. 

Columbus decided that, as he had heard there were 
gold mines in Cibao, even though it was in Caonabo's 
country, the place must be visited. He therefore sent a 
daring young cavalier, Alonso de Ojeda, with a well- 
armed force, to investigate the matter. He returned 
with glowing accounts of gold-dust in the streams and 
with a nugget of gold weighing nine ounces. Others 
found gold in other localities, and the hopes of the 
Spaniards were revived. It became so evident that 
gold was what the discoverers desired that the natives 
called it " the Christians' God." 

Provisions began to grow scarce for so many persons ; 
medicine, clothing, horses, workmen, and arms were 
needed ; so twelve ships were sent back to Spain, with 
several men, women, and children from the cannibal 



CHEISTOPIIEE COLUMBUS. 39 

Caribbee islands, who, while they were to be converted 
to Christianity, were to be sold as slaves according to 
the suggestion of Columbus, and the money used to buy 
cattle. It seems strange that such a religious man as 
Columbus, who was looking forward to spending his 
wealth to recover the Holy Sepulchre, should have sug- 
gested human slavery, or, rather, it would seem strange, 
had we not in America witnessed so many Christians, 
both North and South, upholding the slave-trade in 
this enlightened nineteenth century. It behooves us to 
be lenient toward the fifteenth century. 

Isabella, to her honor be it said, would not consent to 
the cannibals being sold as slaves, but ordered that they 
should be converted like the rest of the Indians. 

After the fleet had sailed to Spain, many of the men 
left behind became melancholy and discontented, and a 
faction determined to take some of the remaining ships 
and return home. They were discovered and punished? 
but an ill-feeling was created towards Columbus which 
was never overcome. 

In March, 1494, leaving his brother Diego in charge 
of the town, Columbus started with four hundred men, 
including miners and carpenters, horses and fire-arms, 
to the mountains of Cibao, as he could not much longer 
abstain from sending back to the monarchs the continu- 
ally promised gold of Cathay. The men sallied forth 
with much display, so as to impress the neighboring 
Indians. 

The way thither was steep and difficult, across rivers 
and glens, till they reached the top of the mountains, 
about eighteen leagues from the settlement. Near by he 
erected a wooden fortress. At first the natives fled at 
their approach, fearing especially the horses ; but later 



40 CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS, 

tliey came and brought food and gold-dust, and assured 
hi in that farther on — somewhere — were masses of ore 
as large as a child's head. The Admiral told them, as 
ever, that anything would be given in exchange for gold. 

Columbus was surprised to find that the natives of 
Hayti had a religion of their own. They believed in one 
supreme being, who was immortal and omnipotent, with a 
mother, but no father. They employed inferior deities, 
called Zemes, as messengers to him. Each chief had a 
house in which was an image in wood or stone of his 
Zemi, and each family had a particular Zemi, or protec- 
tor. Their bodies were often painted or tattoed with 
figures of these gods. Besides the Zemes, each chief 
had three idols, which were held in great reverence. 

They believed that the sun and moon issued from a 
cavern on their island, and that mankind issued from 
another cavern. For a long time there were no women 
on the island; but seeing four among the branches of 
trees, they endeavored to catch them, but found them 
slippery as eels. Some men with rough hands were 
engaged to catch them, and succeeded. 

They had a singular idea about the Flood. A great 
chief on the island slew his son for conspiring against 
him. He put the bones of his son into a gourd, and one 
day when he opened the gourd many fishes leaped out. 
Four brothers heard of this gourd, and came and opened 
it secretly. They carelessly let it fall, when great whales 
sprang out and sharks, and a mighty flood covered 
the earth, so that the islands are only the tops of the 
mountains. 

When a chief was dying he was strangled, so that 
he should not die like common people. Others were 
stretched in hammocks, with bread and water at their 
heads, and abandoned to die. 



CHRISTOPIIER COLUMBUS. 41 

When the new fortress, St. Thomas, was nearly built, 
Columbus left it in charge of Pedro Margarite, a Cata- 
lonian, and returned to Isabella. Here he found more 
discontent and sickness than before. As food was grow- 
ing scarce, and there was no method of grinding corn but 
a hand-mill, he began at once to erect a mill, and com- 
pelled the youug hidalgos, or men of high blood, to work. 
This produced more bitterness than ever; for they had 
not come hither to a new country to labor, but to pick up 
gold at their leisure. Their pride was wounded ; lack of 
accustomed food and unusual bodily labor soon told on 
luxurious idlers, and great numbers sank into their graves, 
cursing the day on which they set sail for the Indies. 
Years after, when the place was deserted, it was believed 
that two rows of phantom hidalgos, richly apparelled, 
walked the solitary streets, and disappeared at the ap- 
proach of the living. 

To quiet his own people and to overawe Caonabo, or any 
other hostile chief, Columbus sent Ojeda to take charge 
of St, Thomas, and about four hundred armed men to 
march into the interior under Pedro Margarite, who had 
been left at St. Thomas. Margarite was charged to be 
jast to the natives, but if they refused to sell provisions 
to compelthem, but in as kindly a manner as possible. 
Caonabo and his brothers, because the former was feared 
by the colonists, were to be surprised and secured if pos- 
sible, notwithstanding that they w^ere defending their 
own country from intruders. 

Columbus having settled, as he hoped, his turbulent 
comrades, made a voyage to Cuba early in April, 1494. 
Inquiring, as usual, of the people for gold, they always 
pointed to the south. Columbus sailed on, and finally 
discovered Jamaica. As they approached the land, as 



42 CURISTOPHEll COLUMBUS. 

many as seventy canoes filled Avith Indians, painted and 
adorned with feathers, uttered loud cries and brandished 
their pointed wooden lances. They were quieted by the 
Indian interpreters. At another time the Spaniards 
lired upon them alid let loose a cruel bloodhound. 

Not finding gold in Jamaica, as he had hoped, Columbus 
returned to Cuba, and ran along its shore for three hun- 
dred and thirty-jBve leagues. He discovered many small 
islands, a lovely country, more kindly natives than be- 
fore, who told him that toward the west lay the prov- 
ince of Mangon — he was sure this was Marco Polo's 
Mangi, or Southern China — and would have gone farther 
but the crew insisted upon his return. So sure were 
they all that this was Asia that all agreed under oath 
that if any should hereafter contradict this opinion, he 
should have his tongue cut out, and receive a liundred 
lashes if a sailor, and pay ten thousand maravedls if an 
officer. And yet they could not help wondering why 
they did not find the rich cities of Marco Polo. Colum- 
bus, worn with the fatigues and anxieties of five months 
of cruising, suddenly fell into a lethargy like death, and 
in this condition of insensibility he was borne into the 
harbor of Isabella, Sept. 29, 1494. 

On regaining consciousness, he found his brother Bar- 
tholomew at his bedside. After the return of the latter 
from Henry VII. of England, to whom he had gone for 
aid in behalf of Christopher, some years before, and 
been captured by pirates, he found that his brother 
had discovered the Indies, and had gone on his second 
voyage. He repaired to the Spanish court, where he was 
cordially received, and fitted out by the sovereigns with 
three ships filled with supplies for his brother. 

Columbus was overjoyed to see Bartholomew, a man 



I 



CIIBISTOPEER COLUMBUS. 43 

of much decision and knowledge of the sea, and quite 
well educated. He immediately made Bartholomew 
adelantado^ an office equivalent to that of lieutenant- 
governor. 

Meantime Pedro Margarite, who had been told to make 
a military tour of Hayti, was in serious trouble. The 
island was divided into live domains, each ruled by a 
chief. It was thickly populated, some authorities say 
with a million people. 

Instead of making a tour of the country, he and his 
indolent followers lingered in the fertile regions near 
by, and lived on the provisions furnished by the Indians, 
which they could ill afford to spare. The Spaniards took 
the wives and daughters of the inhabitants, and con- 
stant quarrels resulted. 

Margarite, being of an old family, spoke with con- 
tempt of Diego Columbus, left in charge at Isabella, and 
also of the Admiral. Margarite drew to his side those 
already disaffected toward Columbus, and, seizing some 
ships which were lying in the harbor, set sail for Spain. 
At court they represented that Hispaniola was a con- 
stant pecuniary drain upon the sovereigns, rather than 
a source of income, for Ferdinand was more anxious 
even than Columbus to secure gold for his coffers ; and 
they poisoned the mind of Fonseca, already somewhat 
at enmity with Columbus concerning the so-called 
tyrannies of the Admiral. Perhaps the real trouble was 
that Columbus was not severe enough with this idle 
and sensual set, who wished to get rich without labor. 

The soldiers whom Margarite left behind him without a 
leader were more lawless than before. One of the chiefs, 
exasperated by their conduct, put to death ten of them 
who had injured his people, and set fire to a house where 



44 CIIRISTOPTIER COLUMBUS. 

forty-six Spaniards were lodged. The Indians were be- 
ginning to find out tliat these people had not come to 
their country from heaven. 

Caonabo, an intelligent and able warrior, who from 
the first had felt 'that harm would come to his people 
unless these white men could be driven out, determined 
to destroy St. Thomas, as La ISTavidad had been destroyed. 

But he had a very brave young officer to deal with, 
Alonso de Ojeda, who was a favorite of Medina-Celi, and 
had fought in the Moorish wars. He always carried a 
picture of the Virgin with liim, and believed that she 
protected him. 

Caonabo assembled ten thousand warriors, armed with 
bows and arrows, clubs and lances, and came out before 
the fortress, hoping to surprise the garrison ; but Ojeda 
was ready to meet him. Caonabo then decided to starve 
them by investing every pass. For thirty days the siege 
was maintained, and famine stared the Spaniards in the 
face. 

Ojeda made many sorties from the fort, and killed 
several of the foremost warriors, until Caonabo, weary of 
the siege, and admiring the bravery of Ojeda, retired 
from the fort. The chief now determined to invite the 
other chiefs of the island to help despoil Isabella; but Gua- 
canagari, the friendly chief, opposed th plan, and kept, 
at his own expense, one hundred of the suffering Spanish 
soldiers. This incensed Caonabo and his brother-in-law, 
Behechio, who together killed one of Guacanagari's wives, 
carried another away captive, and invaded his territory 
with their army. The friendly chief at once reported 
the plan to destroy Isabella to the Admiral. 

Ojeda offered to take Caonabo by stratagem and deliver 
him alive into the hands of Columbus. Taking ten bold 



CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 46 

followers, he made his way through the forests to the 
home of Caonabo, sixty leagues from St. Thomas. Ojeda 
paid great deference to the chief, and told him he had 
brought a valuable present from his Admiral. 

Caonabo received the young Spaniard with great cour- 
tesy. The latter asked the Indian chief to go to Isabella 
to make a treaty of peace, to which he consented, prepar- 
ing to take a large body of men with him. To this 
Ojeda demurred, as useless, but the march began. 

Having halted on the journey, Ojeda showed the chief 
a set of steel manacles resembling silver, and assured 
him that these came from heaven, were worn by the 
monarchs of Castile in solemn dances, and that they were 
a present to the chief. He proposed that the chief 
should bathe and then put on these ornaments, and 
mounting Ojeda's horse, thus equipped, surprise his 
subjects. 

He was pleased with the idea of riding upon a horse, 
the animal which his countrymen so much feared would 
eat them. Mounting behind Ojeda on horseback, the 
manacles were adjusted, and Ojeda and the chief, with 
the rest of the horsemen, rode before the Indians, to 
show them how the steeds could prance. Then Ojeda 
dashed into the woods, his followers closed around him, 
and at the point of the sword threatened Caonabo with 
instant death if he made the least noise. He was bound 
with cords to Ojeda so that he could not fall off, and, 
putting spurs to their horses, they started towards 
Isabella. 

They passed through the Indian towns at full gallop, 
and, tired and hungry, arrived after some days at the 
Spanish settlement. 

Columbus ordered that the haughty chieftain should 



46 CURISTOPlIEll COLUMBUS. 

be treated with kindness and respect, and kept him in 
chains in his own house. Caonabo always had admira- 
tion for Ojeda, and would rise to greet him, but never 
for Columbus, as he said the latter never dared to come 
personally to his^house and seize him. 

Caonabo's subjects were much cast down at the loss of 
their chief, and one of his brothers raised an army of 
seven thousand against St. Thomas. They were scat- 
tered by the dashing Ojeda, and the brother of Caonabo 
was taken prisoner. 

In the autumn of 1494 Antonio Torres arrived from 
Spain with four ships filled with supplies, and kind letters 
from the sovereigns to Columbus. The Admiral deemed 
it wise that these ships return as soon as possible, so as 
to counteract any reports made by Margarite and his 
men. To make up for the lack of gold — the ship car- 
ried all he could possibly gather — he sent home, in op- 
position to the expressed wishes of Isabella, five hundred 
Indians to be sold as slaves in the markets of Seville. 

It is true that both Spaniards and Portuguese made 
large profits from the African slave trade ; that the 
Moors, men, women, and children, by the thousands, were 
sold into cruel bondage, and Columbus but followed the 
dreadful example of his age. He had held out such high 
hopes of gold from this probable Cathay, there was such 
discontent already at his meagre returns, that he allowed 
his conscience to be hardened, if, indeed, he had any 
scruples about the matter. 

Not so Isabella. While, like others of her time, intol- 
erant of heretics, she felt deeply interested in this gentle 
and hospitable new-found race. Five days after royal 
orders had been issued for their sale, the order was sus- 
pended through Isabella's influence, until the sovereigns 



I 



CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS, 47 

could inquire why these Indians had been made prison- 
ers, and to consult learned theologians as to whether 
their sale would be right in the sight of God. Much 
difference of opinion was expressed by the divines, when 
Isabella took the matter into her own hands, gave orders 
that they should be returned to the island of Hayti, and 
that all the islanders should be treated in the gentlest 
manner. 

Another brother of Caonabo had raised a hostile army, 
said by some to have numbered one hundred thousand,, 
aided by Anacaona, the favorite wife of Caonabo, and 
her brother Behechio, against the town of Isabella. Co- 
lumbus at once prepared to meet them with all the men 
and arms at his command, and twenty fierce blood- 
hounds. 

A battle was fought in the latter part of March, 1495, 
when the Indians were completely routed, the blood- 
hounds seizing them by the throat, and tearing them in 
pieces, and the horses trampling them to the earth. 

Columbus, still eager for wealth for Spain, now laid 
a heavy tribute upon all the conquered Indians. Those 
chiefs near th. mines were required to furnish a hawk's- 
bill of gold-dust every three months, —about fifteen dol- 
lars of our money, Irving thinks. Those distant from 
the mines were obliged to furnish twenty-five pounds of 
cotton every three months. One of the chiefs, because 
he could not furnish the gold, offered to cultivate a large 
tract of land for Columbus, which offer was rejected, 
because gold alone would satisfy Spain. The Admiral 
finally lowered the amount to half a hawk's-bill. 

To enforce these measures he built fortresses, and the 
Indians, unused to labor, soon found themselves slaves 
in their own land. They hunted the streams for gold, 



48 CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 

and obtained little. With pitiful simplicity they asked 
the Spaniards when they were going to return to heaven ! 

Finally they agreed among themselves to leave their 
homes and go into the mountains and hidden caverns^ 
where they could subsist on roots, and let their hated 
task-masters toil for themselves. But the Spaniards 
pursued them and made them return to their labors. 

The friendly chief, Guacanagari, hated by his neighbor- 
ing territories on account of his kindness to Columbus, 
blamed by his suffering and overworked subjects, unable 
himself to pay the tribute, took refuge in the mountains, 
and died in want and obscurity. 

As matters were going on so badly in the Indies, the 
sovereign sent out Juan Aguado towards the last of 
August, 1495, on a mission of inquiry. He took out four 
ships, well filled with supplies. Aguado, like many 
others, seems to have been unduly exalted with a little 
power conferred upon him, and when he arrived at Isa- 
bella, acted as though he were the governor. The dis- 
affected sided with him, and even the Indians were glad 
of a change of power, hoping against hope for a better- 
ment of their condition. 

When Aguado was ready to return to Spain, a fearful 
storm destroyed all his ships ; but a new one was built, 
in which he returned, and Columbus at the same time 
went back in the Nina to lay his own side of the case 
before the sovereigns. With them returned two hun- 
dred and twenty-five sick, idle, disappointed adventur- 
ers, besides thirty Indians including Caonabo. He died 
on the voyage of a broken spirit. 

On this voyage the winds were against them, so that 
with the delay their food became so scarce that Irving 
says it was proposed to kill and eat the Indians, or throw 



CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS, 49 

them into tlie sea to make less mouths to feed. This 
Columbus sternly forbade. After three months, June 
11, 1496, they reached the harbor of Cadiz. They were 
not the joyous adventurers who went out almost three 
years before. ' Columbus himself wore a robe girdled 
with a cord of the Franciscans, so dejected was he in 
spirit. 

Columbus soon learned the state of feeling towards 
himself in Spain, and felt more than ever that he must 
make the Indies of profit to the Spanish treasury. He 
repaired to the court in July, and was treated with 
much courtesy and cordiality. The monarchs were too^ 
greatly absorbed in preparations for the marriage of 
Juana with Philip of Austria, and of Philip's sister 
Margarita with Prince Juan, to do anything just then 
toward fitting out a third expedition. An armada of 
one hundred ships with twenty thousand persons on 
board was sent to take out Juana to Flanders, and 
to bring back Margarita. Besides, the sovereigns were 
maintaining a large army in Italy to help the king of 
Naples in recovering his throne from Charles VIII. 
of France, and had many squadrons elsewhere. 

In the autumn six millions of maravedis were ordered 
to be given to Columbus, but just about that time Pedro 
Alonzo Nino sent word to the court that he had arrived 
with a great amount of gold on his three ships from 
Hispaniola. Ferdinand was rejoiced to keep the six 
million maravedis to repair a fortress, and ordered Niiio 
to pay the gold to Columbus. When Nino arrived at 
court it was found that his vaunted gold was another 
crowd of Indians brought over to be sold as slaves. 

When the spring came the wedding of Prince Juan 
was celebrated with great splendor at Burgos, and then 



50 CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 

Isabella turned her interest toward Columbus, she alone 
being concerned, for the king began to look coldly on 
him, and the royal counsellors were his enemies. The 
queen allowed him to entail his estates, so that they 
might always descend with his titles of nobility. She 
granted him three hundred and thirty persons in royal 
pay, and he might increase the number to five hundred. 
He was also authorized to grant land to all such as 
wished to cultivate vineyards or sugar plantations on 
condition that they should reside on the island for four 
years after such grant. 

It was fortunate for Columbus that Isabella was his 
friend, for he seemed to have few others, so easy is it 
for the world to follow the successful, and to decry the 
unsuccessful. No person seemed to wdsh to go on this 
third voyage, or to furnish ships. Finally, at the sug- 
gestion of Columbus, criminals sentenced to the mines, 
or galleys, or banishment, were allowed to go to the New 
World instead, and work without pay. A general par- 
don was offered to scoundrels ; those who had committed 
crimes worthy of death should remain two years ; lighter 
crimes, one year. There could scarcely have been a 
worse plan. 

While matters dragged along, Isabella's only son, 
Prince Juan, died, overwhelming her with grief for the 
remainder of her days. Yet she still thought of Colum- 
bus, and out of her own funds set apart for her daughter 
Isabella, betrothed to Emanuel, King of Portugal, sent 
two ships with supplies. The two sons of Columbus 
who had been pages to the prince she took into her own 
service. 

So long was everything delayed that Columbus would 
have given up any further discovery except for his feel- 



CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 61 

ings of gratitude to the queen and his desire to cheer 
her in her afflictions. 

Finally the six ships were ready, when in a moment 
of loss of self-control, Columbus allowed his temper to 
work great injury to him. He knocked down an inso- 
lent man who annoyed him, and kicked him after he 
was down. He regretted it, but paid dearly for it, as do 
others who fail to control their tempers. The sovereigns 
naturally believed that some of the stories about his 
severity in the Indies were true ; and Las Casas attrib- 
uted the humiliating measures toward Columbus, which 
soon followed, to this one unmanly act. 

On May 30, 1498, Cohimhus set sail with six vessels 
from San Lucar de Barrameda, on his third voyage. 
Three of these vessels he despatched directly to Hayti 
with supplies, one being commanded by Pedro de Arana, 
the brother of Beatrix. 

With the other three he sailed to the Cape de Verde 
islands, off the coast of Africa, and then as the heat of 
the tropics became almost unbearable, the tar in the 
seams of the ship melting and causing leakage, and the 
meat and wine becoming spoiled, he changed his course 
due west and finally reached an island off the coast of 
South America, which he called Trinidad, in honor of 
the Trinity. 

He was surprised to find such verdure and fertility. 
While coasting the island, Columbus beheld toward the 
South, land intersected by the branches of the Orinoco, 
not dreaming that it was a continent. 

He tried to allure the natives on board by friendly 
signs, a display of looking-glasses and the like ; but find- 
ing these of no avail, though they looked on in wonder 
for about two hours with their oars in their hands, 



62 CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 

Columbus tried the power of music, at which the Indians, 
thinking this an indication of hostility, discharged a 
shower of arrows. This was returned by the cross-bows 
of the Spaniards, when they immediately fled. 

Columbus sailed into the Gulf of Paria, supposing it 
to be the open sea, and was surprised to find the water 
fresh. The entrance between Trinidad and the main 
land he called, from the fury of the water, the Serpent's 
Mouth, and the opposite pass the Dragon's Mouth. 

He soon discovered Margarita and Cubagua, afterwards 
famous for pearls. He procured about three pounds of 
pearls for bells and broken pieces of plates — Valencia 
ware — which pearls he sent to the sovereigns as speci- 
mens of the untold wealth of the new lands. 

Columbus was now so afflicted by a disease in his eyes 
from constant watching and sleeplessness that he was 
almost blind, and he had also a very severe attack of 
gout with intense suffering, which emaciated him greatly. 
His food supplies, too, were nearly exhausted, so it was 
necessary for him to reach San Domingo on the southern 
coast of Hispaniola as soon as possible. He arrived 
Aug. 30, 1498. 

Sad things had happened during his absence of more 
than two years. The people at Isabella were nearly 
starving for lack of food. Some were ill, but most w^ere 
too much opposed to labor to cultivate the fields. War 
had broken out afresh with the Indians, and there was 
mutiny among the Spaniards. 

The three vessels which he had sent directly to His- 
paniola, w^hile he retained three for discovery, had been 
deceived by Francisco Eoldan, who had been made judge 
of the island by the Admiral. Roldan told the captains of 
the three vessels, that he was in that part of the island 



I 



CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 53 

taking tribute, and helped himself to all he wished. 
Many of the men on board, being criminals forced into 
the service, joined him in his mutiny. When the ships 
arrived in port what remained of their provisions was 
nearly spoiled. 

Columbus, seeing so much disaffection, issued a proc- 
lamation that all who wished could go to Spain in five 
vessels about to return. The vessels lay in the harbor 
eighteen days, while Columbus was negotiating with the 
rebels. The Indian prisoners on board were suffering 
from heat and hunger, and many died ; some were suffo- 
cated with heat in the holds of the vessels. When the 
ships returned Columbus wrote letters to the sovereigns 
about the rebellion, and Eoldan wrote letters also. 

After much writing and sending of messages — Colum- 
bus did not dare resort to arms as Eoldan's party was so 
strong — it was agreed that Eoldan and his followers 
should return to Spain. This they refused to do later, 
and would only make peace on condition that Eoldan 
should be again chief judge of the island, have large 
grants of land made to him and his followers, and that 
it should be proclaimed that everything charged against 
him and his party had been on false testimony. To 
such humiliating concessions Columbus was obliged to 
submit. 

Eoldan resumed his office of chief judge, and was 
more insolent than ever. He demanded much land 
and many Indian slaves. Columbus now granted to all 
colonists who would remain, Indian slaves, and each 
chief was required to furnish free Indians to help cul- 
tivate the lands. Thus the cruel system of repartimien- 
tos, or distribution of free Indians among the colonists, 
began, a measure which led to the most cruel overwork 



64 CHRISrOPHEB COLUMBUS. 

and suffering, and in the end annihilated the rightful 
owners of the soil. 

Damaging reports of the condition of the colonists 
and the inability of Columbus to control the mutinous 
set, had reached the crown. They therefore sent Don 
Francisco de Bobadilla, an officer of the royal household, 
to investigate matters. He had orders to receive into his 
keeping, ships, houses, fortresses, and all royal property, 
provided it should be proved that Columbus had for- 
feited his claim to the control of such property. A 
letter was sent to Columbus requiring his obedience to 
Bobadilla. The latter sailed about the middle of July, 
1500, for San Domingo. 

When he arrived, Aug. 23, seeing the bodies of some 
Spaniards whom Columbus had recently executed for con- 
spiracy against his life, he concluded that the reports 
of the cruelty of the Admiral were true, and at once 
ordered Diego, the brother of Columbus, as the latter 
was absent, to deliver up the malcontents to him. He 
read his royal orders from the door of the church. As 
Diego was at first unwilling to submit without the com- 
mand of the Admiral, Bobadilla went at once to the 
fortress and released the conspirators. 

He threw Diego into prison, seized the gold, plate, 
horses, and manuscripts of Columbus, and took up his 
residence in the Admiral's house. Columbus was aston- 
ished beyond measure, nor would he believe, until he saw 
a letter signed by the sovereigns bidding him give obe- 
dience to Bobadilla. In answer to a summons to appear 
immediately before the latter, he departed almost alone 
for San Domingo, to meet Bobadilla. When the latter 
heard of his arrival, he gave orders to put Columbus in 
irons, and confine him in the fortress. 



CHBISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 65 

When the irons were brought all present shrank from 
putting them on, such an outrage did it seem to one so 
dignified and almost always so lenient and considerate. 
Columbus bore it all in silence^ showing no ill-will 
against any. Fearing that the more determined Bar- 
tholomew would rebel and try to rescue his brother, 
Bobadilla demanded that Columbus write to Bartholo- 
mew requesting him to come peaceably to San Domingo. 
This Columbus did, assuring his brother that all would 
be made right when they arrived in Castile. On his 
arrival he was also put in irons, and the three brothers 
were not allowed to communicate with each other. 
Bobadilla did not visit them nor allow others to do so. 

All kinds of misrule were charged against Columbus. 
Even the worst among the motley crowd at San Domingo 
blew horns about the prison doors, glad of any change 
and any hope of ease and lawlessness. Columbus began 
to suspect that his life even would be taken. When the 
vessels were in readiness to carry their prisoners to 
Spain, Alonzo de Villejo, who was to conduct them, 
entered the fortress with the guard. 

"Villejo,'^ said the white-haired discoverer, "Avhither 
are you taking me ? '^ 

'' To the ship, your Excellency, to embark," was his 
reply. 

'' To embark ! Villejo, do you speak the truth ? " 

" By the life of your Excellency, it is true ! " 

The ships set sail in October, amidst the shouts of 
the rabble. Both Villejo and the master of the caravel 
wished to remove the chains; but Columbus said, "Ko; 
their majesties commanded me by letter to submit to 
Avhatever Bobadilla should order in their name ; by their 
authority he has put upon me these chains ; I will wear 



56 CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 

tliem until they shall order them to be taken off, and I 
will preserve them afterwards as relics and memorials 
of the reward of my services.'' '^ He requested/' says 
his son Ferdinand, "that they might be buried with 
him." 

When Columbus reached Cadiz in irons the whole 
population was overwhelmed with astonishment and 
indignation. Those even who had been his enemies 
were loud in' condemnation of such treatment. These 
murmurs of the people reached the ear of the court at 
Grauada. During the voyage Columbus wrote a letter 
to Doiia Juana de la Torre, former nurse of Prince Juan, 
a lady much beloved by Isabella. This was sent as soon 
as he arrived. In the letter he says, " The slanders of 
worthless men have done me more injury than all my 
services have profited me. . . . Whatever errors I may 
have fallen into, they were not with an evil intention." 

When this letter was read to Isabella she realized the 
wrong that had been done to Columbus, ordered that he 
and his brothers be at once released, and wrote a " letter 
of gratitude and affection," inviting the Admiral to 
court, and sending two thousand ducats for his expenses. 

The heart of Columbus was .cheered. He repaired to 
Granada Dec. 17, and was received with great distinc- 
tion. Isabella wept ; and when he saw his sovereign 
thus affected he fell upon his knees, sobbed aloud, and 
could not speak for some time. 

The sovereigns raised him from the ground and en- 
couraged him with most gracious words. They declared 
that Bobadilla had exceeded their instructions and 
should be immediately dismissed ; that the property of 
Columbus and all his rights and privileges should be 
restored. 



CHRISTOPHEB COLUMBUS. 57 

The position of viceroy, however, was not restored to 
him, probably because since several other discoveries 
had been made, principally by those who had been 
assistants of Columbus, — N'ino, who had been with the 
Admiral to Cuba, had sailed to South America and 
brought back pearls, and Vicente Yafiez Pinzon had dis- 
covered the Amazon River and sailed to Cape St, Augus- 
tine, — Ferdinand no longer deemed it wise for so much 
territory to be under one person, and that person a 
foreigner. 

He assured Columbus that it was not wise for him to 
return for two years, since matters were in such confu- 
sion ; so Don Nicholas de Ovando was chosen to super- 
sede Bobadilla, He went out Feb. 13, 1502, with a fleet 
of thirty ships and twenty-five hundred persons. In 
the early part of the voyage the fleet was scattered by 
a storm, one vessel foundered with one hundred and 
twenty passengers, and the others were obliged to throw 
overboard everything on deck, so that the shores of 
Spain were strewed with articles from the fleet. So 
overcome were the sovereigns by this news, that they 
shut themselves up for eight days, allowing no one to 
be admitted to their presence. Most of the ships finally 
reached San Domingo. 

Under Bobadilla matters had gone from bad to worse. 
'^ Make the most of your time ; there is no knowing how 
long it will last,'^ was his oft-repeated expression to 
the slave-holders. The position of the Indians grew 
intolerable. 

"Little used to labor," says Irving, "feeble of consti- 
tution, and accustomed in their beautiful and luxuriant 
island to a life of ease and freedom, they sank under 
the toils imposed upon them and the severities by which 



58 CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 

they were enforced. ... When the Spaniards travelled, 
instead of using the horses and mules with which they 
were provided, they obliged the natives to transport 
them upon their shoulders in litters, or hammocks, with 
others attending to hold umbrellas of palm-leaves over 
their heads to keep off the sun, and fans of feathers to 
cool them ; and Las Casas affirms that he has seen the 
backs and shoulders of the unfortunate Indians who 
bore these litters raw and bleeding from the task.'^ 

Finally, in 1502, Columbus was to make his fourth 
and last voyage. He was now sixty-six, his body weak- 
ened by exposure and mental suffering. His squadron 
consisted of four caravels and one hundred and fifty 
men. His brother and his younger son, Ferdinand, 
sailed with him. He had assured the sovereigns that 
he believed there was a strait (about where the Isthmus 
of Panama is situated), and thought that he could pass 
to the Indian Ocean, and reach Hindostan westward as 
Vasco da Gama had recently reached it sailing eastward. 

Columbus and his party left Cadiz May 9 or 11, 1502, 
and one of his vessels having become unseaworthy, he 
stopped at Hispaniola in order to purchase another or 
exchange it in San Domingo. As Ovando was then in 
command, Columbus had been told by the sovereigns to 
stop on his way homeward rather than in going out, as 
matters were still so unsettled ; but the condition of 
the ship demanding it, he thought he should not be 
blamed. 

In the harbor, about to start for Spain, were the ves- 
sels in which Ovando had sailed, ready to carry back Bo- 
badilla and some of his adherents, Eoldan, and others. 
Bobadilla had one immense nagget of gold, which had 
been found by an Indian woman, and this he intended 



CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS, 59 

to carry to the sovereigns, knowing that the finding of 
gold was sure to cover up many sins. In one vessel were 
four thousand pieces of gold, which had been set apart 
by the agent of Columbus as the rightful share of the 
latter. 

Columbus sent word to Ovando of his arrival, and 
asked permission to remain in the harbor, as he appre- 
hended a storm. This was refused. Then he sent word 
again that he felt sure the storm was approaching, and 
hoped that the fleet might not be returned to Spain just 
yet. Probably Ovando thought any suggestion about 
storms was unwarranted, for no attention was paid to it, 
and the fleet set sail. 

The storm soon arose, the ship, having on board Boba- 
dilla and his gold, with Roldan and an Indian chief 
as prisoner, went down, and all the rest were wrecked or 
so badly damaged that none could proceed to Spain 
save one, and that the one which carried the gold of 
Columbus. 

The Admiral and his vessels seem to have been almost 
miraculously preserved in the fearful storm, unsheltered 
as they were. He sailed on past the southern shore of 
Cuba, and soon reached the coast of Honduras. 

Here he was surprised to find quite a superior race of 
Indians. Their hatchets for cutting wood were of cop- 
per instead of stone ; they had sheets and mantles of 
cotton, worked and dyed in various colors. The women 
wore mantles like the women among the Moors at Gra- 
nada, and the men had cotton cloth about the loins. 

Fearful storms prevailed for nearly two months. The 
seams of the vessels opened, and the sails were torn to 
pieces. Many times the sailors confessed their sins to 
each other and prepared for death. ^^ I liave seen many 



60 CHBISTOPIIER COLUMBUS, 

tempests/' says Columbus, ^^but none so violent or of 
such long duration/' Much of the time he was ill, and 
worried over his son Ferdinand and his brother Barthol- 
omew. " The distress of my son grieved me to the 
soul/' he says, " and the more when I considered his 
tender age ; for he was but thirteen years old, and he 
enduring so much toil for so long a time. . . . My 
brother was in the ship that was in the worst condition 
and the most exposed to danger ; and my grief on his 
account was the greater that I brought him with me 
against his will." 

They sailed along what is now the Mosquito Coast and 
the shore of Costa Eica (Rich Coast), so called from the 
gold and silver mines found later in its mountains. 
Everywhere they heard reports of gold. They met ten 
canoes of Indians, most of whom had plates of gold 
about their necks, which they refused to part with. 

Sometimes the Indians were hostile, and would rush 
into the sea up to their waists, and splash the water at 
the Spaniards in defiance ; but, as a rule, they were soon 
pacified, and induced to give up their gold for a few 
trinkets. 

Continuing along the coast of Veragua, where they 
heard that the most gold could be found, they saw for 
the first time signs of solid architecture — a great mass 
of stucco formed of stone and lime. Columbus wrote 
to the sovereigns later that the people — he had gathered 
this from the Indians in part, and also judged from what 
he saw — wore crowns, bracelets, and anklets of gold, 
and used it for domestic purposes, even to ornament their 
seats and tables. Some Indians told him that the people 
were mounted on horseback, and that great ships came 
into their ports armed with cannon. This, indeed, must 



CHIilSTOPHER COLUMBUS. 61 

be the country of Kublai Khan, whom Marco Polo wrote 
about. 

The coast abounded in maize, or Indian corn, pine- 
apples, and other tropical fruits, and alligators sunned 
themselves along the banks of the rivers. 

Again storms came up, and the rain poured from the 
skies, says Columbus, like a second deluge. The men 
were almost drowned in their open vessels. Sharks 
gathered round the ships, which the sailors regarded 
as a bad omen, as it was believed these could smell dead 
bodies at a distance, and always kept about a vessel soon 
to be wrecked. Their food had been spoiled by the heat 
and moisture of the climate, and their biscuits were so 
filled with worms that they had to be eaten in the dark 
so as to prevent nausea. 

As soon as the sea was calm, Columbus determined to 
ascertain the truth about gold mines. He sent Barthol- 
omew into the interior with several men and three guides 
whom the principal chief, Quibian, had furnished him. 
The guides took him, it is believed, into the territory of 
an enemy, Quibian hoping thereby to save his own land 
from intrusion. 

Bartholomew set forth again with an armed band of 
fifty-nine men, and found much to convince him that 
gold was here in abundance. It was determined there- 
fore to build a town here, which should be the great cen- 
tre for gold-mining. Bartholomew should remain with 
the men, while the Admiral sailed to Spain for more aid. 

Houses were at once started, built of wood and thatched 
with the leaves of palm-trees. True, they had almost 
no food, but there was maize and fruit in abundance. 
Many presents were made to Quibian to reconcile him to 
this intrusion ; but he was warlike, and soon gathered a 



62 CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS, 

force of a thousand men for the ostensible purpose of 
making war upon a neighboring tribe. 

This Diego Mendez, the chief notary, did not believe. 
He volunteered therefore with another Spaniard to go to 
the house of Quibian and see for themselves. The chief 
was confined to his house by an arrow wound in the leg. 
Mendez told the son — the latter struck him a fearful 
blow as he arrived, but was finally pacified — that 
he had come with some ointment to heal the father. He 
could not gain access to the chief, but he learned in 
various ways that Quibian intended to surprise the town 
at night and murder the people. 

Bartholomew determined at once to march to Quibian's 
house and capture him and his warriors. Taking seventy 
four armed men, he started on his errand. He led the 
way with five men, the others out of sight in the rear. 

As Bartholomew drew near the house Quibian saw 
him and requested him to approach alone. Telling 
Mendez that when he, Bartholomew, should take the 
chief by the arm, they should spring to his assistance, 
he advanced to meet Quibian, asked about his wound, 
and, under pretence of examining it, took hold of his 
arm. 

Immediately the four rushed to his aid, the others 
surrounded the dwelling, and about fifty old and young 
were seized with all their gold, amounting to about three 
hundred ducats. The Indians offered any amount for 
the release of Quibian, but even gold could not tempt 
the Spaniards in this case. The chief was taken on 
board of one of the boats ; but he managed to escape in 
the night, and it was supposed that he had perished, as 
both feet and hands were bound. 

However, he had not drowned, and when he realized 



CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS, 63 

that he was bereft of wives and children, he determined 
upon revenge. He assembled his warriors and came 
secretly upon the settlement, wounding several, till the 
bloodhounds were let loose upon them, and they fled in 
terror, Bartholomew was among the wounded. 

The Admiral meantime, unable to pass the bar, had 
on board the captive warriors and family of Quibian. 
They were shut up at night in the forecastle, several of 
the crew sleeping upon the hatchway which was secured 
by a strong chain and padlock. In the night some of 
the Indians forced this open and sprang into the sea. 
Several were seized before they could escape, were forced 
back into the forecastle, and the hatchway again fast- 
ened. In the morning all were found dead. They had 
hanged or strangled themselves, so hateful was this 
dominion of the white men. 

After a short time the Admiral, one of his caravels 
being so worm-eaten that it went to pieces, and another 
worthless, abandoned the fort, leaving the unwelcome 
coast of Veragua, and reached Jamaica. The other two 
caravels were reduced to mere wrecks, and were ready 
to sink even in port. 

It was necessary to send to Ovando to ask for ships 
in which to come to San Domingo. Diego Mendez with 
another Spaniard, and six Indians, set out on the peril- 
ous journey in a canoe having a mast and sail. Once 
they were taken by Indians but escaped ; again they were 
taken prisoners, and Mendez again escaped and made his 
way back alone in his canoe to Columbus, after fifteen 
days' absence. 

Mendez offered to try once more if a party could be 
provided to go with him to the end of Jamaica, when he 
would attempt to cross the gulf to Hayti. Bartholomew 



64 CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 

therefore, with an armed band on shore, followed beside 
the two canoes on the water till they were at the end of 
the island, and then they pushed out into the broad sea. 

The voyage was a terrible one. The water gave out, 
and some of the rowers died of thirst and were thrown 
into the sea, while others lay gasping on the bottom of 
the canoes. Finally they reached a small island and 
found rain-water in the crevices of the rocks. The In- 
dians were frantic with delight, drank too much, and 
several died. 

At last they reached San Domingo, only to learn that 
Ovando was at Xaragua, fifty leagues distant, whither 
Mendez proceeded on foot through forests and over 
mountains. Ovando blandly expressed his sorrow, and 
promised aid week after week and month after month, 
for a year, not allowing Mendez to leave San Domingo, 
under pretence that the ships would soon be ready. 

The days seemed long to wait for an answer from 
Ovando. The little band with Columbus began to mur- 
mur, and before he was aware of it a mutiny was at 
hand. On Jan. 2, 1504, when he was a complete cripple 
in his bed from gout, Francisco de JPorras, captain of one 
of the caravels, appeared before him and in an insolent 
nmaner declared that Columbus did not intend to carry 
the men back to Spain, and they had determined to 
take the matter into their own hands. 

" Embark immediately,'' said Porras, " or remain in 
God's name. For my part," turning his back on the 
Admiral, " I am for Castile ! those who choose may 
follow me ! " 

Shouts came from all sides of the vessel, " I will fol- 
low you ! and I ! and I ! " while others brandished their 
weapons and cried out, '^ To Castile ! to Castile ! " while 



CHRlSrOPHEE COLUMBUS. 65 

some even threatened the life of the Admiral. Barthol- 
omew at once planted himself, lance in hand, before the 
turbulent crowd. Porras was told to go if he wished, so 
taking ten canoes which the Admiral had purchased 
from the Indians, about forty set sail for Hispaniola, 
taking with them some Indians to guide the canoes. 

When out to sea they were soon compelled to return, 
and finding that they were too heavily loaded in the 
rough waves, they forced the Indians to leap into the 
ocean. Although skilful swimmers, it was too far from 
land for them to reach it, so they occasionally grasped 
the boats to gain their breath. Upon this the Spaniards 
cut off their hands and stabbed them till eighteen sank 
beneath the waves. Once more back upon the land, they 
went from village to village, passing, as Irving says, '* like 
a pestilence through the island.'' 

At length, after a year, two vessels arrived, one fitted 
out by Mendez and the other by Ovando. 

Columbus and his men set sail, and arrived in San 
Domingo Aug. 13, 1504. The Admiral was politely 
received by Ovando, and lodged in his house. While 
he professed great friendship for Columbus, he pardoned 
the traitor Porras. 

Columbus found matters in a dreadful condition in 
San Domingo. When Ovando came out to supersede 
Bobadilla, Isabella had made the Indians free, so amazed 
had she been at the treatment received in their slavery 
under him. When Ovando saw that the Spaniards mur- 
mured and would not work, he wrote to the Queen that 
the Indians could only be kept from vices by labor, and 
that they now kept aloof from the Spaniards, and there- 
fore lost all Christian instruction. 

This influenced the Queen, and she gave permission 



66 CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 

for moderate labor if essential to their good, and regular 
wages. With this permission Ovando paid them the 
merest pittance, made them labor eight months out of 
the year, and allowed them to be lashed and starved. 
When the Spaniards at the mines were eating, the In- 
dians, says Las Casas, would scramble under the table 
to get the bones which were thrown to them, and, after 
gnawing them, would pound them up to mix with their 
bread. 

Those who worked in the fields never tasted flesh, but 
lived on cassava bread and roots. They were brought 
sometimes eighty leagues away from their liomes, and 
when three months of forced labor were over, they 
would start homeward to their wives and children. All 
through the journey they had nothing to sustain them 
but bread, and not always that, so that they sank down 
by the hundreds and died along the roadsides. Las Casas, 
the noble priest, says, '' I have found many dead in the 
road, others gasping under the trees, and others in the 
pangs of death, faintly crying, Hunger ! hunger ! " 
When they reached their homes the wives and children 
had usually perished or wandered away, and the desolate 
husbands sank down at the threshold and died. Many 
killed themselves to end their sorrows, and mothers 
killed their own infants rather than that they should be 
thus treated by the white men. 

Whole provinces were wiped out by Ovando through 
fire and sword. Behechio of Xaragua had died, and 
Anacaona, his sister, ruled in his place. She was called 
^^The Golden Flower" for her beauty and ability;, she 
composed most of their legendary ballads, and was ad- 
mired, even by the Spaniards, for her grace and dignity. 
Her subjects often had quarrels with some dissolute 



CFIBISTOPIIER COLUMBUS, 67 

white men. Ovando resolved to put an end to Xaragua. 
At the head of three hundred foot-soldiers, besides 
seventy horsemen and arms, he went professedly on a 
visit to Anacaona. She came out to meet him Avith all 
her leading chiefs, and a great train of women who 
waved palm branches and sang their national songs. 
After a feast the Indians took part in games for the 
pleasure of their visitors. 

In return all were invited to the public square, where 
the Spaniards were to entertain them. The chiefs were 
all gathered in the house which Ovando had occupied. 
At a given signal from Ovando — a finger placed on his 
breast on the image of God the Father — a massacre 
began; the horsemen trampled the Indians under foot, 
cleaving the ranks with their swords, set fire to the house 
where the chiefs were and burned them all, and took Ana- 
caona prisoner, and later hanged her in the presence of 
the people she had so long befriended. In memory 
of tliis great victory Ovando founded a town and called 
it St. Mary of the True Peace ! 

When Columbus reached Hispaniola he was filled with 
sorrow, and wrote to the Queen, ^^ I am informed that since 
I left the island six parts out of seven of the natives are 
dead, all through ill-treatment and inhumanity : some by 
the sword, others by blows and cruel usage, others through 
hunger. The greater part have perished in the moun- 
tains and glens, whither they had fled from not being 
able to support the labor imposed upon them." 

Columbus must have remembered sadly that he was 
the one who first suggested repartimientos, or distribut- 
ing the labor of the Indians to their taskmasters, that 
more gold might be sent to the crown, and the idle Span- 
iards provided with food by the labor of the red men in 
the fields. 



68 CmUSTOPIIEE COLUMBUS. 

Sad and old and ill^ Columbus departed for Spain Sept. 
12, 1504, and, after a stormy passage, arrived Nov. 7. 

Isabella was on her death-bed. Among her last re- 
quests was one that Ovando should be removed from 
office, which Ferdinand promised her (he was not removed 
till four years later, since his grinding methods brought 
a good revenue to the monarch) ; and that Columbus 
should be restored to his possessions in the Indies, and 
the poor Indians be kindly treated. Isabella was broken- 
hearted with the death of her only son, Prince Juan, of 
her beloved daughter, Isabella, of her grandson and pros- 
pective heir. Prince Miguel, and with the insanity of her 
daughter, Juana, and her unhappy life with Philip of 
Austria. She died Nov. 26, 1504, at Medina del Campo, 
in the fifty-fourth year of her age. She wished to be 
buried without any monument except a plain stone, and 
so directed in her will. 

To Columbus the death of Isabella was a fatal blow. 
He was now poor, and his rents uncollected in Hispani- 
ola, probably through the connivance of Ovando. He 
writes to his son Diego at court : " I live by borrowing. 
Little have I profited by twenty years of service, with 
such toils and perils, since at present I do not own a roof 
in Spain. If I desire to eat or sleep, I have no resort 
but an inn, and, for the most times, have not where- 
withal to pay my bill." Later he said, "I have served 
their majesties with as much zeal and diligence as if it 
had been to gain Paradise ; and if I have failed in any- 
thing, it has been because my knowledge and powers 
went no further." 

. As the winter passed away and spring came, Columbus 
became more and more anxious to Visit court and lay his 
neglects before Ferdinand. The use of mules havinor 



CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 69 

been prohibited, since by their use the breeding of horses 
liad declined^ Columbus on account of his age and infirm- 
ities obtained permission to ride upon one as he made 
this journey to Segovia to see the king. 

Ferdinand received him, as Irving says, with "cold, 
ineffectual smiles," — he had never apparently any in- 
terest in Columbus, — promised that his claims should 
be left to arbitration, though Las Casas believed that he 
would have been glad "to have respected few or none of 
the privileges which he and the queen had conceded to 
the Admiral, and which had been so justly merited/' 

Columbus was now upon his sick-bed, still sending 
petitions to the king that he would secure the viceroy- 
ship to his son Diego. Ferdinand asked him to take 
instead titles and estates in Castile — the New World 
had by this time become too valuable to Ferdinand to 
allow any man to be viceroy. This Columbus declined 
to do. 

Finally the Admiral gave up the matter, saying, "It 
appears that his majesty does not think fit to fulfil that 
which he, with the Queen, who is now in glory, promised 
me by word and seal. For one to contend for the con- 
trary would be to contend with the wind. I have done 
all that I could do. I leave the rest to God, whom I 
have ever found propitious to me in my necessities.' ' 

He died May 20, 1506, about seventy years of age, 
at Valladolid. His last words were " In manus tuas, 
Domine, commendo spiritum meum : Into thy hands, 
Lord, I commend my spirit." He was burred in the 
convent of St. Francisco at Valladolid, from whence his 
body was removed in 1513 to the monastery of Las 
Cuevas at Seville, w'here the body of his son Diego, 
second Admiral and Viceroy of the Indies, was buried in 



70 CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 

1526. About ten yea.rs later the bodies of the two were 
removed to the cathedral of San Domingo at Hispaniola. 

At the close of a war between France and Spain in 
1795, the Spanish possessions in Hispaniola were ceded 
to France. The Spaniards therefore requested that the 
body of Columbus might be conveyed to Havana. This 
was readily granted ; and Dec, 20, 1795, in the presence 
of an august gathering, a small vault was opened above 
the chancel, and the fragments of a leaden coffin and 
some bones were found, which were put into a small box 
of gilded lead, and this into a coffin covered with black 
velvet. The remains were conveyed with great rever- 
ence to the ship which was to bear them to Havana, Jan. 
15, 1796, where with distinguished military honors they 
wel-e buried. 

In 1877, in the course of some changes in the chancel 
of the cathedral at San Domingo, two other graves were 
opened : one, that of the grandson, bearing an inscrip- 
tion, in Spanish, " El Almirante, D. Luis Colon, Duque 
de Veragua, Marques de — presumably — Jamaica.'^ On 
the other casket were carved the letters C. C. A., probably 
'' Christoval Colon, Almirante.'' Inside the cover was 
an abbreviated inscription commonly translated, " The 
celebrated and extraordinary man, Don Christopher 
Columbus.'' 

Within the casket was a small silver plate with the 
words somewhat abbreviated, " The last remains of the 
first Admiral, Christopher Columbus, the Discoverer." 
A corroded musket-ball was also found in the casket. 
As the Admiral wrote to the King while on his fourth 
voyage that his wound had broken out afresh, it is con- 
jectured that a ball was still in his body from some 
of his early warfare. The autliorities at San Domingo 



CHBISTOPIIEB COLUMBUS. 71 

believed that the body of the son Diego was removed to 
Havana^ and not that of the Admiral. A German ex- 
plorer, Rudolf Cronau, gave the matter careful study in 
1890, and felt convinced that the authorities at San 
Domingo were correct in their belief. Dr. Charles Ken- 
dall Adams, in his life of Columbus, thinks "the belief 
will come to prevail that the remains of Columbus are 
now at San Domingo, and not at Havana." 

After the death of Columbus his son Diego married 
Maria, the daughter of Fernando de Toledo, Grand com- 
mander of Leon, niece of the celebrated Duke of Alva, 
chief favorite of the King, and one of the proudest 
families in Spain. 

Diego with his Avife, called the vice-queen, his brother 
Ferdinand, who never married, his two uncles Barthol- 
omew and Diego, and many noble cavaliers came to San 
Domingo. Like his father, he had continual trouble 
with the colonists. He tried to do away with reparti- 
mientos, but was unable on account of the opposition of 
the Spaniards. Negro slaves had already been sent from 
Africa to fill the places of the exterminated Indians. 

The King did not give Diego his proper titles, but they 
were granted after Ferdinand's death by his grandson 
and successor, Charles V. 

Don Diego at his death, Feb. 23, 1526,, left three sons 
aud four daughters. Don Luis, the eldest son, some 
years later gave up all pretensions to the vice-royalty of 
the New World, and received instead the titles of Duke 
of Veragua and Marquis of Jamaica. Having no legiti- 
mate son, he was succeeded by his nephew, Diego, son 
of his brother Christoval, who died without children in 
1578. A lawsuit then arose and was continued for thirty 
years as to the titles and estates of the great discoverer. 



72 cnmsTOPUEii columbus. 

The case was finally decided Dec. 2, 1608, in favor of 
the grandson of Isabel, the daughter of Diego and Maria 
de Toledo, Don Nuiio, or Nugno Gelves de Portug^allo, 
who became Duke of Veragua. The male line becoming 
extinct, the titles reverted to the line of Francesca, sister 
of Diego, who inherited the titles from Luis, her uncle. 
The value of the titles, Mr. Winsor says, is said to repre- 
sent about eight to ten thousand dollars yearly, and is 
chargeable upon the revenues of Cuba and Porto Eico. 

Mr. Winsor thinks the career of Columbus "sadder, 
perhaps, notwithstanding its glory, than any other 
mortal presents in profane history." 

How would those last days at Valladolid have been 
cheered could he have looked forward through four cen- 
turies, and seen the New World which he discovered, 
honoring that discovery and the discoverer with the vast 
Columbian Exposition ! How repaid for all his poverty 
and sorrow would he have been could he have guessed 
that even the children in two hemispheres would be 
taught four hundred years later the story of his life, its 
perseverance, its courage, and its faith ! He made mis- 
takes, as who does not? but the life of the young Ital- 
ian wool-comber, studying in every moment of leisure, 
and asking assistance year after year from crowned 
heads till he was fifty -six years old, to make his immor- 
tal discoveries, will ever be remarkable, and an inspira- 
tion for all time to come. 



MARCO POLO. 



MAECO POLO, born in 1254, was the eldest son of 
a very rich nobleman of Venice, Nicolo Polo. 
Venice was at that time a great republic, and her mer- 
chants transacted business in almost all parts of the world. 

The uncle of Marco, named also Marco, had a mer- 
cantile house in Constantinople and at Soldaia, on the 
south-east coast of the Crimea. He and his brother 
Nicolo, in their trading ventures, went into the extreme 
East, where no European, as far as is known, had been 
before. 

When Marco was a lad of fifteen he was taken with his 
^father and uncle on their journeys,and spent about twenty- 
six years in Persia, China, Japan, India, and Russia. 

On the return of the travellers in 1295, Eamusio, who 
wrote in 1553, says that nobody would believe the three 
men were really the Polos, they were so changed in 
looks, and their garments were so unlike those worn by 
the Venetians. The Polos therefore invited a large com- 
pany to the mansion where they formerly lived. 

" When the hour arrived for sitting down to table," 
says Eamusio, ^^they came forth of their chamber all 
three clothed in crimson satin, fashioned in long robes 
reaching to the ground, such as people in those days 
wore within doors. And when water for the hands had 
been served, and the guests were set, they took off those 

73 



74 MAliCO POLO, 

robes and put on others of crimson damask, whilst the 
first suits were by their orders cut up and divided among 
the servants. 

'^Then, after partaking of some of the dishes, they went 
out again and came back in robes of crimson velvet, and 
when they had again taken their seats, the second suits 
were divided as before. When dinner was over, they did 
the like with the robes of velvet, after they had put on 
dresses of the ordinary fashion worn by the rest of the 
company. Tliese proceedings caused much wonder and 
amazement among the guests. 

" But when the cloth had been drawn, and all the ser- 
vants had been ordered to retire from the dining-hall, 
Messer Marco, as the gayest of the three, rose from 
table, and, going into another chamber, brought forth the 
three shabby dresses of coarse stuff which they had worn 
when they first arrived. Straightway they took sharp 
knives and began to rip up some of the seams and welts, 
and to take out of them vast quantities of jewels of the 
greatest value, such as rubies, sapphires, carbuncles, 
diamonds, and emeralds, which had all been stitched up* 
in those dresses in so artful a fashion that nobody could 
have suspected the fact. 

" For when they took leave of the Great Khan they had 
changed all the wealth that he had bestowed upon them 
into this mass of rubies, emeralds, and other jewels, 
being well aware of the impossibility of carrying with 
them so great an amount in gold over a journey of such 
extreme length and difficulty. Now, this exhibition of 
such a huge treasure of jewels and precious stones^ all 
tumbled out upon the table, threw the guests into fresh 
amazement, insomuch that they seemed quite bewildered 
and dumbfounded. And now they recognized that in 



MARCO POLO. 75 

spite of all former doubts these were in truth those hon- 
ored and worthy gentlemen of the Ca Polo that they 
claimed to be ; and so all paid them the greatest honor 
and reverence." 

Another singular story is told about the shabby gar- 
ments which the Polos wore on their return from the far 
East. The wife of one of them gave to a beggar a dirty 
and patched coat, not knowing that it had jewels in 
it. The owner at once went to the Bridge of the Eialto, 
and stood turning a wheel, and saying to those who 
crowded round him, who supposed he was insane, " He'll 
come, if God pleases.'^ After two or three days the 
beggar, as curious as the rest, came to see the man turn- 
ing his wheel. At once Polo recognized his coat and 
recovered his jewels. "Then,'' says the narrative, "he 
was judged to be quite the reverse of a madman ! " 

The Polos were so rich that Marco was called Marco 
Millioni, and his home, Corte de' Millioni. 

After Marco had been in Venice two or three years, 
the Genoese in 1298 fitted out a great fleet, under com- 
mand of Lamba Doria, against the Venetians. Both re- 
publics had quarrelled in 1255 over an old church in Acre, 
Syria. I^early twenty thousand men were killed on both 
sides, and Acre itself was nearly destroyed. Ten engines 
shot stones weighing fifteen hundred pounds into the city, 
demolishing the towers and forts. In 1294 the Vene- 
tians seized three Genoese vessels, and again the repub- 
lics went to war, the Genoese gaining a great victory, 
capturing all but three of the Venetian galleys with their 
rich cargoes. 

The bitterness increased till, in 1298, a severe battle 
was fought off the island of Curzola. The Genoese had 
seventy-eight galleys, and the Venetians ninety-four 



76 MARCO POLO. 

under Andrea Dandolo. The fight lasted through the 
day, Sunday, Sept. 7, the Genoese gaining a complete 
victory, capturing nearly all the galleys, including the 
flag-ship of Dandolo. In despair at his defeat, rather 
than be a captive in chains of the Genoese, he refused 
food, and finally killed himself by dashing his head 
against a bench. The Genoese gave him a ceremonious 
burial, on the return of their victorious fleet. 

The Genoese lost heavily, among them the eldest son 
of Lamba Doria, Octavian, who fell at the forecastle of 
his father's vessel, shot by an arrow in the breast. His 
comrades mourned sadly, and the courage of the men 
weakened, when Lamba ran forward into the agitated 
company, ordered that they cast his son's body into the 
sea, saying that the land could never have offered his 
boy a nobler tomb, and fighting more fiercely than ever, 
though almost broken-hearted, he gained the victory. 

Seven thousand persons were taken prisoners, among 
them Marco Polo, who was the captain of one of the war 
galleys. 

Colonel Henry Yule, C.B., who has edited the works 
of Marco Polo, with extensive and valuable notes, says 
that these war galleys cost about thirty-five thousand 
dollars each. They had nearly or quite two hundred 
rowers apiece, the toil of rowing being almost unendura- 
ble, so that in more recent times it was performed by 
slaves under the most cruel driving. The musicians 
played an important part, as it was considered essential 
to have much noise of fifes, trumpets, kettle-drums, etc., 
to give courage to the crew, and to put fear into the 
heart of the enemy. A captured galley was taken into 
port stern foremost, her colors dragging on the surface of 
the water. 



I 



MARCO POLO, 77 

While Marco was in tlie Genoa prison he became ac- 
quainted with E/Usticiano of Pisa^ a man of considerable 
literary reputation. The Pisans, Aug. 6, 1284^ had been 
defeated at Meloria, in front of Leghorn^ by the Geno- 
ese under Uberto, the elder brother of Lamba Doria. 
Lamba with his six sons was in the fleet Forty of the 
Pisan galleys were taken or sunk, and upwards of nine 
thousand Pisans were made prisoners. Many noble 
ladies after this surrender came on foot to Genoa to seek 
their kindred. The answer to them was, '* Yesterday 
there died thirty of them, to-day there have been forty, 
all of whom we have cast into the sea : and so it is 
daily.'^ 

It is probable that Eusticiano persuaded Marco to put 
on paper an account of his wonderful travels, or, rather, 
to dictate it to his prison companion, for we owe to the 
Pisan the very interesting record, of which Marco Polo 
himself says, ^^that since our Lord God did mould with 
his hands our first father Adam, even until this day, 
never hath there been Christian, or Pagan, or Tartar, or 
Indian, or any man of any nation, who in his own person 
hath had so much knowledge and experience of the divers 
parts of the world and its wonders as hath had this 
Messer Marco ! '' 

After Marco had been in prison nearly a year, peace 
was secured between the two republics, and he, with the 
others who were alive, were restored to their own coun- 
try. A treaty of peace was soon after signed between 
Genoa and Pisa, and, of course, Eusticiano was freed. 

A few years after this release from prison, Marco mar- 
ried Donata Loredano, of a noble family, by whom he 
had three daughters, Fantina, Bellela, and Moreta. In 
the early part of 1324, when Marco was seventy, finding 



78 MARCO POLO. 

himself "to grow daily feebler tlirough bodily ailment/^ 
he made his will, constituting his " beloved wife and dear 
daughters trustees/^ and giving them most of his prop- 
erty. It is probable that he died that year, and was 
buried in the church of San Lorenzo. 

He w^as urged while on his death-bed to retract some 
of the strange things he had written about the countries 
visited. He refused to do so, declaring that he had told 
the truth. It has taken several centuries to prove what 
at that time seemed largely a fable. 

Marco Polo's book. Colonel Yule thinks, was written in 
French, and remained for over a century in manuscript 
before printing was invented. Colonel Yule has found 
about.seventy-five manuscripts in various languages. Of 
course Marco Polo's book has been translated into a great 
many languages, and is now read all over the world. 

In 1260, when Marco was only six years old, his father 
and mother went as far East as Cathay (China) to the court 
of the great Kublai Khan. So delighted was the latter 
'with these Venetians that he asked them some years later 
to become his ambassadors to the Pope, and beg the prel- 
ate to send a hundred missionaries to his country. They 
were also to bring back " some oil from the lamp which 
burns on the sepulchre of our Lord at Jerusalem." The 
Polos returned to Italy ; but Clement IV. was dead, and 
when Gregory X. came to power, two years later, he could 
send only two Dominicans, and these soon lost courage, 
and gave up the long and wearisome journey. 

When the Polos returned to the Great Khan the lad 
Marco went with them. His mother had died, and he 
greatly desired to be with his father. Tliey were three 
years and a half on the journey. The Khan heard of 
their coming, and sent some officials forty days' journey 



MARCO POLO, 79 

to meet them. All repaired to the summer palace at 
Kaipiiigfu, about fifty miles north of the Great Wall, 
where they were received with much ceremony. The 
Khan was greatly pleased with the holy oil. 

The boy Marco succeeded wonderfully in learning the 
language and customs of the Tartars ; in fact, he soon 
knew several languages, and four which were in charac- 
ters such as the Chinese. The orders of the Great Khan 
were written in six languages: Mongol, Nighur (a branch 
of Oriental Turkish), Arabic, Persian, Tangutan (proba- 
bly Tibetan), and Chinese. Marco became such a favor- 
ite with Kublai Khan that he was sent on a mission to 
a country six months' distant from China. Usually when 
ambassadors returned they told the Khan only about 
business, whereas the Khan said, '^1 had far liever 
hearken about the strange things and the manners of 
the different countries you have seen than merely the 
business you went upon." 

Marco therefore made careful observations of the dif- 
ferent people and countries, thus proving himself a wise 
young man, and laying the foundation for his great fame. 

On his return from his first mission he told the Khan 
many strange things, at which the Emperor was so much 
pleased that he said, " If this young man live, he will 
assuredly come to be a person of great worth and 
ability.'' 

For seventeen years Marco was the trusted official of the 
Emperor, attending to much of his private as well as pub- 
lic business. Finally Marco and his father and uncle be- 
came anxious to return to Venice, but tlie Khan refused to 
think of their departure. At last, Arghun Khan of Per- 
sia, Kublai's great-nephew, having lost his favorite wife, 
Khatun Buluglian, in 1286, and mourning her sorely, sent 



80 MARCO POLO, 

three ambassadors to China to select a wife from her kin, 
as she had left a dying request that nobody should fill 
her place save one of her own family. Such messages 
are sometimes forgotten, but ArghunKhan seems to have 
remembered. 

The ambassadors presented their desires to Kublai, 
and choice was made of Kukachin, a beautiful girl of 
seventeen, of unusual ability and of line family. As the 
journey overland from Peking, China, to Tabreez in Per- 
sia, was long and dangerous on account of frequent wars, 
the ambassadors preferred to return by sea, and begged 
that the travellers, the Polos, might accompany them. 

Marco had just returned from a mission to India. 
Kublai reluctantly consented to their going, but provided 
handsomely for the voyage, — thirteen ships, each carry- 
ing as crews from two hundred and fifty to two hundred 
and sixty men, — and sent friendly messages to the 
kings of England, France, and Spain. They sailed from 
Fokien, China, and after three months arrived at Java ; 
it was more than two long years before they reached 
Persia. Two of the ambassadors died on the passage, 
and of the six hundred persons on board, besides the 
mariners, only eight survived. 

Arghun Khan had died March 12, 1291, even before 
the party left China, and his brother had succeeded him. 
This brother directed the Polos to bear the lady to the 
son of Arghun, Ghazan Khan, who was then in the 
province of Khorasan guarding the frontier with sixty 
thousand men. The party reached Ghazan the last of 
1293, or the first of 1294^ and he, instead of his father, 
married Kukachin, which was doubtless more appro- 
priate, both as to age and character, for while Ghazan 
was not as haxidsome as his father, he had many admir- 



MAE CO POLO. 81 

able qualities as a statesman and a soldier. The young 
bride from China lived only till June, 1296, a little over 
two years after her marriage. She had become tenderly 
attached to the Polos, and wept when they left her in 
Persia and went on to Venice. They reached their 
Italian home sometime in 1295. 

Marco Polo's travels, with Colonel Yule's notes, fill 
about one thousand large pages, and -will repay a read- 
ing. When it is possible, the record will be given in 
Marco's own words. He first describes Armenia, in 
Asia Minor, a country old long before Christ was born, 
probably of Phrygian origin, which took its name from 
Aram, one of its noted kings, w^ho lived about 1800 B. C. 
They consider themselves descended from Japhet, the 
son of Noah. 

" In this country of Armenia,'^ says Marco, " the ark 
of Noah exists on the top of a certain great mountain on 
the summit of which snow is so constant that no one 
can ascend ; for the snow never melts, and is constantly 
added to by new falls. Below, however, the snow does 
melt, and runs down, producing such rich and abundant 
herbage that in summer cattle are sent to pasture from 
a long way round about, and it never fails them." 
People believed that Noah's ark still existed, and pieces 
of the pitch were used as amulets. Mount Ararat is 
16,953 feet high. It was first ascended by Professor 
Parrot, in September, 1829. Several persons have made 
the ascent since that time. 

To the north of Armenia Marco found Georgiana 
(Georgia), which Alexander the Great could not pass 
through, on account of the sea on one side and lofty 
mountains on the other, so he built a high tower at the 
entrance of the defile, that the people beyond should 



82 MARCO POLO, 

not attack him. This, says Yule, is the Pass of Derbend, 
still called in Turkish the Iron Gate, with a wall that 
runs from the Castle of Derbend along the ridges- of 
Caucasus. The wall is eight feet thick, and twenty-six 
feet high. The fortress was completed by Naoshirwan, 
A. D. 542, who, with his father, erected three hundred 
and sixty towers upon the Caucasian walls. 

The Georgians believed themselves descended from 
King David ; therefore each king was called David. 
Marco found the people handsome — the Georgian 
women have always been bought for wives by the 
Turks, on account of their great beauty. 

Marco saw cloths of gold and silk made here in great 
abundance, and such oil springs *^ that a hundred ship- 
loads could be taken at one time.'' These were probably 
the immense petroleum wells of Baku, from which oil is 
shipped all over Europe. South-east of Armenia, Marco 
entered Mansul (Mosul), where cloths of gold and silk 
were made, called Mosolins, and where a people lived 
called Kurds, " an evil generation, whose delight it is to 
plunder merchants." 

Bandas (Bagdad) was found to be a great and wealthy 
city, the residence of the Saracen caliphs. The city, 
built about 765 by the second caliph of the Abbasside 
dynasty, soon became renowned as a commercial and in- 
tellectual metropolis. Haroun-al-Easchid, the fifth caliph 
of the Abbassides, a great warrior as well as patron of 
letters, made it the centre of Arabic civilization. 

He led an army of 95,000 men against the Byzantine 
empire, ruled by Irene, and made her pay an annual 
tribute. When her son refused to pay the tribute, 
Haroun-al-Easchid, at the head of 135,000 men, proceeded 
against him, and the Greek emperor lost 40,000 men, and 



MARCO POLO, 83 

acknowledged himself tributary. Agaiu the tribute was 
refused, and again Haroun ravaged Asia Minor at the 
head of 300,000 men. Bagdad itself was finally taken 
by Hulaku in 1258, which event Marco thus describes : — 

"The Lord of the Tartars of the Levant, whose name 
was Alaii (Hulaku), brother to the Great Khan now 
reigning, gathered a mighty host and came up against 
Bandas (Bagdad), and took it by storm. It was a great 
enterprise, for in Bandas there were more than 100,000 
horse, besides foot soldiers. And when Alaii had taken 
the place, he found therein a tower of the caliphs, which 
was full of gold and silver and other treasure ; in fact, 
the greatest accumulation of treasure in one spot that 
ever was known. 

" When he beheld that great heap of treasure, he was 
astonished ; and, summoning the caliph to his presence, 
he said to him : ' Caliph, tell me now why thou hast 
gathered such a huge treasure ? What didst thou mean 
to do therewith ? Knowest thou not that I was thine 
enemy, and that I was coming against thee v^rith so 
great an host to cast thee forth of thine heritage ? 
Wherefore didst thou not take of thy gear and employ it in 
paying knights and soldiers to defend thee and thy city ? ' 

'' The caliph wist not what to answer, and said never 
a word. So the Prince continued : ' Now, then, Caliph, 
since I see what a love thou hast borne thy treasure, I 
will e'en give it thee to eat ! ' So he shut the caliph up 
in the Treasure Tower, and bade that neither meat nor 
drink should be given him, saying, ' Now, Caliph, eat of 
thy treasure as much as thou wilt, since thou art so fond 
of it ; for never shalt thou have aught else to eat ! ' So 
the Caliph lingered in the tower four days, and then 
died like a doo-." 



84 MARCO POLO. 

The death of Mosta Sim Billah, the last of the Abbas- 
side caliphs, is variously told. Some authorities say 
that he was rolled in a carpet, as carpets are usually 
rolled, and his limbs crushed ; others, that he was wrapt 
in a carpet and trodden to death by horses. 

Longfellow has put this story into verse in his ^^ Tales 
of a Wayside Inn," in the Spanish Jew's Tale of Kam- 
balu. 



*' I said to the Kalif : ' Thou art old, 
Thou hast no need of so much gold. 
Thou shouldst not have heaped and hidden it here, 
Till the breath of battle was hot and near, 
But have sown through the land these useless hoards 
To spring into shining blades of swords, 
And keep thine honor sweet and clear. 
These grains of gold are not grains of wheat; 
These bars of silver thou canst not eat; 
These jewels and pearls and precious stones 
Cannot cure the aches in thy bones, 
Nor keep the feet of Death one hour 
From climbing the stairways of thy tower!' 

Then into his dungeon I locked the drone, 
And left him to feed there all alone 
In the honey-cells of his golden hive: 
Never a prayer, nor a cry, nor a groan 
"Was heard from those massive walls of stone, 
Nor again was the Kalif seen alive! 

When at last we unlocked the door, 

We found him dead upon the floor; 

The rings had dropped from his withered hands, 

His teeth were like bones in the desert sands: 

Still clutching his treasure he had died; 

And as he lay there, he appeared 

A statue of gold with a silver beard, 

His arms outstretched as if crucified.'' 



MARCO POLO. 85 

Marco also relates how one of the caliphs of Bagdad, 
hating the Christians, and desiring some pretext for per- 
secuting them, told them that as they had declared that 
if they had faith as a grain of mustard-seed they could 
remove mountains, there must surely be that amount of 
faith among them ; therefore if they did not remove a 
mountain in the neighborhood, they would be put to death. 

The Christians bethought themselves of a very holy 
one-eyed cobbler who had put an awl into his other eye, 
because that organ had led him to think evil. He prayed 
in the presence of more than a hundred thousand Chris- 
tians, and the mountain rose out of its place and moved 
to the spot designated by the caliph ! This was probably 
told to Marco, instead of his being an eye-witness of 
the miracle. 

From Tabreez, in the north of Persia, where there is a 
ruin of a beautiful mosque of Ghazan Khan, and " where 
the city is all girt round with charming gardens," Marco 
went to Savah, about fifty miles south-west of Teheran. 
Savah possessed one of the greatest libraries of the East 
until its destruction by the Mongols when they first in- 
vaded Persia. The three Magi, Jaspar, Melchior, and 
Balthazar, who went out to worship Christ, started from 
this city, and are said to be buried there in three large 
and beautiful monuments side by side. 

Marco travelled extensively in Persia, finding the 
nomad tribes, then as now, cruel and murderous. The 
Persian horses sold to India were very fine and of great 
endurance. Yule tells of some that travelled nine hun- 
dred miles in eleven days, and of one that went eleven 
hundred miles in twelve days, including two days of 
rest, making one hundred and ten miles per day. Such 
horses were sold for one thousand dollars each. 



86 MAECO POLO, 

At Kerman Marco saw famous steel cimeters and 
lances. The Turks paid great prices for them, the qual- 
ity of a Kerman sabre being such that it would cleave a 
European helmet without turning the edge. 

From Kerman Marco journeyed to Hormos (Ormuz), 
an island on the eastern shore of the Gulf of Persia. 
On the way thither, through central Persia, he saw sin- 
gular birds and beasts. The francolin (black partridge) 
have a peculiar call which the peasants in Egypt think is 
Arabic for " Sweet are the corn-ears ! Praised be the Lord.'' 

'' Tlie oxen/' says Marco, '^ are very large and all over 
white as snow ; the hair is very short and smooth, which 
is owing to the heat of the country ; the horns are 
short and thick, not sharp in the point; and between 
tlie shoulders they have a round hump, some two palms 
high. There are no handsomer creatures in the world, 
and when they have to be loaded, they kneel like a camel ; 
once the load is. adjusted, they rise. Their load is a 
heavy one, for they are very strong animals. Then there 
are sheep here as big as asses ; and their tails are so 
large and fat that one tail will weigh some thirty 
pounds. They are fine fat beasts, and afford capital 
mutton." 

William Marsden, F. E. S., in his translation of Marco, 
says that such sheep are found in various parts of Asia 
and Africa. The tail is broad and large and often weighs 
fifty pounds. Where these sheep feed in the fields, the 
sliepherds are obliged to fix a piece of thin board to the 
under part of the tail to prevent its being torn by 
bushes, and sometimes small wheels are put under this 
board that the animal may have a sort of wagon in 
which to carry its tail easily. The fat of this tail is 
often used by the natives instead of butter. 



MARCO POLO. 87 

At Ormilz, formerly one of the great commercial 
centres of the East^ Marco describes the hot winds, 
which in Italy are called II Sirocco. The heat is so 
intolerable that during the hot months, from June to 
September, it often kills both animals and vegetables. 
During great heat, usually from nine till twelve, the 
people often stay in water up to their necks. 

Various travellers have described this pestilential 
wind, which the people of Beluchistan call julot or julo 
(the flame). Chardin says, ^^ The most surprising effect 
of the wind is not the mere fact of its causing death, 
but its operation on the bodies of those who are killed 
by it. It seems as if they become decomposed without 
losing shape, so that you would think them to be merely 
asleep, when they are not merely dead, but in such a state 
that if you take hold of any part of the body it comes 
away in your hand, and the finger penetrates such a body 
as if it were so much dust." 

Marco relates this incident which happened when he 
was at Ormuz : " The Lord of Hormos not having paid 
his tribute to the King of Kerman, the latter resolved to 
claim it at the time when the people of Hormos were 
residing away from the city; so he caused a force of 
sixteen hundred horse and five thousand foot to be got 
ready, and sent them by the route of Reobarles to take 
the others by surprise. 

'^ Now, it happened one day that, through the fault of 
their guide, they were not able to reach the place appointed 
for the night's halt, and were obliged to bivouac in a 
wilderness not far from Hormos. In the morning, as 
they were starting on their march, they were caught by 
that wind, and every man of them was suffocated, so tliat 
not one survived to carry the tidings to their lord. When 



88 MARCO POLO. 

the people of Hormos heard of this, they went forth to 
bury the bodies lest they should breed a pestilence. But 
when they laid hold of them by the arms to drag them 
to the pits, the bodies proved to be so baked, as it were, 
by that tremendous heat, that the arms parted from the 
trunks, and in the end the people had to dig graves hard 
by each where it lay, and so cast them in." 

Scattered through Persia, Marco observed the great 
Chinar, or plane-trees, which grow to an immense size, 
and often stand alone, with no other tree within several 
miles. Marco calls it the Arbre Sec, Dry Tree, or Arbre 
Sol, Tree of the Sun. Vows were made before these 
ancient trees, and pieces of cloth torn from the clothes of 
the votaries were hung upon the branches. Many of these 
sacred trees bore the inscription, " If you pray, you will 
certainly be heard.'' It is generally believed that one 
who injures or cuts down one of these grand trees will 
soon die. Many of these Chinar trees are over a thousand 
years old ; some are said to date from the seventh century. 

Marco tells this story of the Old Man of the Moun- 
tain : — 

In the north of Persia, in the mountains, lived a sect 
called Ismaelites. Their headquarters were at Alamut 
(Eagle's Nest). The Prince of the Assassins, as his 
followers were called, Ala'uddin Mahomed, dwelt in a 
veritable paradise, with beautiful gardens, palaces, musi- 
cal instruments, and the like. His soldiers beguiled young 
men to enter his service when the latter were intoxi- 
cated by hashish, a preparation of hemp. They were 
taken into this charming abode where was every pleasure. 
When the Prince wished to send any of his young men 
on a mission of murder, he was removed from Paradise 
while under the influence of hashish, and then told that 



MAECO POLO, 89 

if lie did the bidding of the Prince he should be returned, 
dead or alive, to enjoy it forever. 

The Assassins were pledged to the most perfect obedi- 
ence. It is related that Henry, Count of Champagne 
(titular King of Jerusalem), was on a visit to the Old 
Man of Syria, who was a leader of the Assassins before 
the time of Marco. One day as they walked together they 
saw some lads sitting on the top of a high tower. The 
Old Man asked the Count if he had any subjects as obe- 
dient as these ; and before the Count had time to answer, 
at a sign from the Sheik, the two boys leaped from the 
tower, and were killed instantly, 

Alaii (Hulaku, the brother of Kublai Khan) deter- 
mined to end this band of murderers^ and sent a large 
force against them in 1254. They besieged the castle 
where the Old Man lived for three years, and it was sur- 
rendered only when food was exhausted. The fortresses, 
one hundred in number, surrendered, all but two. One 
of these held out from fourteen to twenty years, 

Euknuddin Khursah, at whose instigation his father, 
Ala'uddin, had been killed that he might become Prince, 
was well treated by Hulaku, to whom he had surrendered. 
He was sent, however, to Mangu Khan, elder brother to 
Kublai, who, hearing of his approach, asked why his 
post-horses should be fagged to no purpose, and ordered 
that he should be put to death on the road, 

Marco journeyed to Balkh, now in the north of Afghan- 
istan, and found the ruins of palaces and other marble 
buildings. This city was devastated by the Great Gen- 
ghis Khan in 1221, Though it yielded without resist- 
ance, the whole population was marched by companies into 
the plain, under the pretext of being counted, and then 
massacred. All buildings capable of defence were levelled 



90 J\IARCO POLO, 

to the grouiidj and tiie rest burned. Some authorities 
say the city contained no less than twelve thousand 
mosques. Thus effectually did the Great Khan do his 
work of conquest. 

At Badakhshauj now in Afghanistan, the kings all 
claimed direct descent from Eoxana, the beautiful daugh- 
ter of Darius, whom, it is said, her father in a dying 
interview with Alexander asked the latter to marry. 
The Balas rubies were found at Badakhshan. Marco says, 
" The stones are dug on the king's account, and no one 
else dares dig in that mountain on pain of forfeiture of 
life as well as goods ; nor may any one carry the stones 
out of the kingdom. But the king amasses them all, 
and sends them to other kings when he has tribute to 
render, or when he desires to offer a friendly present ; 
and such only as he pleases he causes to be sold.. Thus 
"he acts in order to keep the Balas at a high value ; for 
if he were to allow everybody to dig, they would ex- 
tract so many that the world would be glutted with 
them, and they would cease to be of any value. . . . 
There is also in the same country another mountain 
in which azure is found ; ^tis the finest in the world, and 
is got in a vein like silver." 

The present monarch still holds the monopoly of these 
mines, but they are not very productive now. Yule says 
about sixty years ago Murad Beg of Kunduz conquered 
Badakhshan, and was so disgusted at the small product 
from the mines that he sold nearly the whole population 
of the place into slavery ! 

In Keshimur (Cashmere) Marco found sorcerers who 
could bring on changes of weather and produce darkness. 
One of these hermits who could make rain and snow 
at pleasure, says one of the old chronicles, ^^ scolded 



MARCO POLO. 91 

those who made a noise, for, said he to me (after I had 
entered his cave and smoothed him down with a half 
rupee, which I put in his hand with all humility), ' noise 
here raises furious storms.' "... 

Cashmere was one of the centres of Buddhist teach- 
ing. In the first half of the seventh century there 
were one hundred convents with about five thousand 
monks. 

Marco found the women brunettes and very beautiful. 
Shawls are one of the chief articles of export, made 
from the short hair next the skin of the goat. Some- 
times three men work for a whole year on a single shawl. 

Marco crossed the sandy desert of Gobi, "the length 
of which is so great that 'tis said it would take a year 
or more to ride from one end of it to the other.'' 
Travellers in crossing hear strange sounds as of persons 
talking, or drums played. Several ancient cities are be- 
lieved to be buried under the sands of Gobi. In Tangut 
(Tibet) Marco describes the manner of burying the dead. 
^^When they are going to carry a body to the burning, 
the kinsfolk build a wooden house on the way to the 
spot and drape it with cloths of silk and gold. AVhen. 
the body is going past this building they call a halt, 
and set before it wine and meat and other eatables. 
All the minstrelsy in the towm goes playing before the 
body ; and when it reaches the burning-place, the kins- 
folk are prepared with figures cut out of parchment and 
paper in the shape of men and horses and camels, and 
also with round pieces of paper, like gold coins, and all 
these they burn along with the corpse. Tor they say 
that in the other world the defunct will be provided 
with slaves and cattle and money, just in proportion to 
the amount of such pieces of paper that has been burnt 



92 MARCO POLO. 

along with him.'/ It is probable that these paper 
figures were symbols of the more ancient custom of sac- 
rificing human beings and valuable possessions at the 
death of a person. Every day, as long as the body is 
kept in the house before burial, food is set before it, 
and it is believed that the soul comes and nourishes 
itself. 

At Kanchow, Tibet, Marco saw very large recumbent 
idols, covered with gold. They symbolize Buddha in 
the state of nirvana. One in Burma is sixty -nine feet 
long. One seen in the seventh century near Bamian 
was said to be one thousand feet long. 

Mr. Thomas W. Knox, in his book on Marco Polo, 
mentions an idol in a temple at Bangkok, Siam, one 
hundred and sixty feet long ; ^^ the soles of the feet are 
three and a half yards long and broad in proportion, and 
each of them is inlaid with mother-of-pearl as delicately 
as though it were a brooch or finger-ring. The figures 
represented by this inlaid work are entirely fruits and 
flowers, in accordance with the fable that fruits and 
flowers spring from the earth wherever Buddha planted 
his footsteps. It was constructed of brick and then 
heavily gilded, so that one might easily suppose it to be 
made of gold." There are about one thousand other 
idols of various sizes in the temple at Bangkok. 

The men in this city were permitted thirty wives, if 
they could support them, the first wife being held in 
the highest consideration. They endowed their wives 
with cattle, slaves, and money. If a man disliked any 
wife, "he just turned her off and took another.'' 

Marco visited Karakorum, the Mongol headquarters 
till 1256, when Mangu Khan transferred the government 
to Kaipingfu, north of Peking. Karakorum is north of i 



MARCO POLO. 93 

the Gobi desert. It was founded in the eighth century, 
and is said to have been the residence of Prester John, if 
that mythical person ever existed. All Europe from the 
eleventh to the thirteenth century believed that a Chris- 
tian king ruled over a vast area at the East, and called 
him Presbyter Johannes. 

Marco Polo heard that the ruler of the Tartars, Genghis 
Khan, a man whom he thought to be of great worth, — 
probably Marco had forgotten how many countries he had 
laid waste, — desired to marry the daughter of Prester 
John, whereat the latter was very angry, and said to the 
envoys who came for her, ^^ What impudence is this, to 
ask my daugliter to wife ! Wist he not well that he was 
my liegeman and serf ? Go ye back to him and tell him 
that I had liever set my daughter in the fire than give 
her in marriage to him, and that he deserves death at 
my hands, rebel and traitor that he is ! '' 

When Genghis Khan heard this message, " such rage 
seized him that his heart came nigh to bursting within 
him." He levied a great host, and proceeded against 
Prester John as soon as possible. A dreadful battle fol- 
lowed with heavy losses, and Genghis Khan gained the 
victory. Genghis Khan, according to some authorities, 
married the daughter of Prester John, and others say 
his niece. He had a dream in which he was divinely 
commanded to give her away, and this he hastened to 
do the next morning. 

Genghis Khan died during his third expedition against 
Tibet in 1227, at the age of sixty-six. Some say that he 
was killed by an arrow, and others that he was mortally 
injured by the beautiful queen of Tibet, Kurbeljin Goa 
Khatun, who then went and drowned herself in the 
Hoang-Ho, which thereafter the Mongols called Khatun- 



94 MARCO POLO. 

go\, or lady's river. It is said that forty noble and 
beautiful girls, as well as many superb horses, were 
killed at his death so that they might serve him in the 
other world. He was borne to his grave on a two- 
wheeled wagon, the whole host escorting it, and wailing 
as they went. One of his old comrades sang : — 

*' Whilom thou didst swoop lilie a falcon: a rumbling wagon now 
trundles thee off: 

O my king! 
Hast thou in truth then forsaken thy wife and thy children and 
the Diet of thy people? 

O my king! 
Circling in pride like an eagle whilom thou didst lead us, 

O my king! 
But now thou hast stumbled and fallen, like an unbroken colt, 

O my king! 

This custom of killing persons to serve their superiors 
in the other world was common among the Tartars. 
Marco says that w^hen Mangu Khan died, in the heart 
of crowded China, all who were met on the road to the 
place of burial were put to death in order that they 
might serve him — twenty thousand persons in all. 

The Tartar houses were circular, made of boards and 
covered with felt. Whenever they wished to move to 
some other town, these houses were put on wagons 
drawn by twenty or more oxen, ten oxen abreast. The 
distance between the wheel-tracks was often twenty 
feet. 

Marco says that the women did all the buying and 
selling and whatever was necessary to provide for the 
family, " for the men lead the life of gentlemen, trou- 
bling themselves about nothing but hunting and hawk- 



MARCO POLO, 95 

ing and looking after their goshawks and falcons, unless 
it be the practice of warlike exercises." 

They ate all kinds of flesh, including that of horses 
and dogs, and " Pharaoh's rats," probably the gerboa of 
Arabia and north Africa. Their drink was mare's milk, 
which they put into vessels of horse-skin, and then add- 
ing some cows' milk which was sour, fermentation took 
place. It was also churned with a staff which stood in 
the vessel. After three or four days the koumiss was ready 
to drink. This is the beverage of the Mongols at the 
present day, and is said to be a valuable tonic, especially 
useful in consumption. 

They worshipped a God in heaven to whom they 
prayed daily ; and besides Him they had a god, a felt or 
cloth figure of whom was in every house, with images of 
his wife and children around him. When they ate their 
meals they greased the mouths of the god and his family 
with the fat of their meat, and then believed that these 
had had their share of the dinner. 

The wealthy Tartars wore gold and silk stuffs, lined 
with costly furs, such as sable and ermine. 

They were capable of enduring the greatest hardships. 
^^When they are going on a distant expedition," says 
Marco, " they take no gear with them except two leather 
bottles for milk, and a little earthenware pot to cook 
their meat in, and a little tent to shelter them from the 
rain ; and in case of great urgency, they will ride ten 
days on end without lighting a fire or taking a meal. 
On such an occasion they will sustain themselves on the 
blood of their horses, opening a vein and letting the 
blood jet into their mouths." 

Their laws were severe against theft. For horse-steal- 
ing they cut a man in two. For a petty theft they beat 



9G MARCO POLO. 

him with sticks, from which beating the person not in- 
frequently died. A man in whose possession some stolen 
animal was found was obliged to restore to the owner 
nine of the same value ; if he could not, his children 
were seized as compensation ; '' if he have no children, 
he is slaughtered like a mutton/^ says Ibn-Battuta. 

These Tartars married dead people to each other. If a 
man had a daughter who died before marriage, and 
another had a son who had also died before marriage, 
while the coffins were in the house — and these were 
sometimes kept for months — a wedding took place by 
regular contract, with the usual presents, music, and 
much ceremony. Then the papers of contract were 
burned that the young people in the other world might 
know it, and look upon each other as legally married. 
The bodies were usually buried in the same grave. The 
parents therefore felt that their families were related to 
each other. 

The Ingushes of the Caucasas, says one historian, 
have a similar custom. ^^If a man's son dies, another 
who has lost his daughter goes to the father and says, 
' Thy son will want a wife in the other world ; I will 
give him my daughter ; pay me the price of the bride.' 
Such a demand is never refused, even though the pur- 
chase of the bride amount to thirty cows." 

Marco saw the Yak in Tibet, ^^wild cattle as big as 
elephants, splendid creatures, covered everywhere but 
on the back with shaggy hair a good four palms long. 
They are pa^rtly black, partly white, and really wonder- 
fully fine creatures, and the hair or wool is extremely 
fine and w^hite, finer and whiter than silk. Messer Marco 
brought some to Venice as a great curiosity, and so it 
was reckoned by those who saw it." 



MARCO POLO. 97 

Marco devotes many pages of his book to the " won- 
derful niagnilicence of the Great Khan now reigning, by 
name Kubiai Khan/^ the latter word signifying ^' The 
Great Lord of Lords/^ Genghis Khan believed in the 
genius of his young grandson, and said on his death-bed, 
" The words of the lad Knblai are well worth attention ; 
see all of you that ye heed what he says ! One day he 
will sit in my seat and bring you good fortune such as 
you have had in my day ! " 

Kubiai was born in August, 1216, the fourth son of 
Tuli, who was the youngest of Genghis^s four sons by his 
favorite wife, Burte Fujin. His brothers disputed his 
claim to the throne, but he maintained his right by his 
superior ability. His cousin Nayan, not wishing to be 
under Kubiai, raised an army of four hundred thousand 
men against him. Kubiai also raised a large force, and 
went himself to the place of battle, mounted on a great 
wooden bartizan^ borne by four well-trained elephants, 
his standard high aloft over him, so that all the army 
could see it. His horsemen each had a foot-soldier, with 
a lance, sitting behind him. Before joining in battle all 
played and sang on a two-stringed instrument ; and when 
the nakharohy or great kettle-drum, four feet in diame- 
ter, began to sound, then all rushed to arms, " with their 
bows and their maces, with their lances and swords, and 
with the arblasts of the footmen, that it was a wondrous 
sight to see. Now might you behold such flights of 
arrows from this side and from that, that the whole 
heaven was canopied with them and they fell like 
rain.'^ 

Two of the great nahkarohs were usually carried on an 
elephant, while a man sat astride the elephant and dealt 
strong blows on each drum with his hands. 



98 MABCO POLO. 

There were not fewer than seven hundred and sixty 
thousand horsemen, not reckoning the footmen. Kublai 
was victorious, and ISTayan was utterly routed, as no quar- 
ter was given. Nayan was made prisoner, and after- 
wards put to death by being tossed to and fro in a 
carpet, because, as he was of the Imperial line, it would 
not do to spill his blood. 

Kublai, although he reigned long, never went in per- 
son to battle again, but sent his sons or his officials. 
Upon his successful warriors he bestowed titles, and 
gave them tablets of authority. All such persons, when- 
ever they went abroad, had a golden umbrella carried 
high on a spear over their heads, in token of their great 
rank. Each dignitary always sat in a silver chair. 
Kublai was ^^of good stature, neither tall nor short ; his 
complexion red and white, and his eyes black and line." 
He had four superior wives, each of whom was attended 
by about three hundred charming damsels, with pages 
and other attendants of both sexes. Each of these 
ladies, says Marco, '' had not less than ten thousand per- 
sons attached to her court." 

Of lesser wives Kublai had a- great number, chosen 
from a tribe of Tartars called Nugrot, celebrated for 
their beauty. Besides beauty they were obliged to have 
sweet breath, and not snore in their sleep ! Two of 
Kublai's wives, including the best-beloved Jamui Khatun, 
were from this tribe. Of Kublai's twenty-two sons by 
the four principal wives, the eldest, Chinkin, died when 
he was forty-three, and Teimur, his third sou, was named 
as Kublai's successor. Chinkin's eldest son, Kambala, 
squinted, so not being perfect physically, was not eligi- 
ble to the throne. The second son, Tarmah, was feeble 
in body. 



MARCO POLO. 99 

Kublai Khan lived in a magnificent palace at Cam- 
baluc ( Peking ). " The hall of the palace/' says Marco, 
'' is so large that it could easily dine six thousand peo- 
ple. The outside of the roof is all covered with vermil- 
ion and yellow and blue and other hues, which are fixed 
with a varnish so fine and exquisite that they shine like 
crystal, and lend a resplendent lustre to the palace, as 
seen for a great way round.'' 

This palace was surrounded by a high wall, one mile 
in length on each side. At each corner and midway be- 
tween was a fine palace where the Emperor kept his 
war harness, his saddles, and everything needful for his 
army ; eight palaces in all. The great wall had five 
gates, no one but the Emperor ever passing out of the 
middle gate. Beyond his ow^n palace were many other 
palaces for the women of the household. In the great 
parks around his palace were white stags, fallow deer, 
gazelles, and squirrels of many kinds. A large lake over 
a mile long, abounding with fish, was in his park, and an 
artificial mound one hundred paces high, covered with 
evergreens. The mountain itself was also covered with 
some kind of mineral, giving it a green appearance. 

Kublai's summer palace at Kaipingfu was also very 
beautiful. A wall sixteen miles long was built around 
the parks, lakes, and fountains. Here the Khan kept 
more than two hundred gerfalcons. He also built a pal- 
ace of cane, gilt inside and outside. The canes were 
three palms in circumference and from ten to fifteen 
paces high. The palace was stayed by more than two 
hundred cords of silk. 

The Khan kept more than ten thousand white horses, 
" all pure white, without a speck." The milk of the 
mares he and his family drank, no one else being 



100 MARCO POLO. 

allowed to use it, except one tribe, the Horiad, because 
they had helped Genghis Khan win a victory 3^ears 
before. Whenever these mares were passing across the 
country, no one must go before them, but wait till they 
had passed, as these animals were treated with the 
greatest respect. White horses were presented to the 
Khan in homage on New Year's Day. 

Marco saw many marvellous feats performed by the sor- 
cerers, the Bacsi. There are still thousands of jugglers 
in China and India, who do some wonderful things. 
Marco saw the Emperor's wine cups moved about ten 
paces, seemingly without hands, and offered to the latter 
to drink. This was probably done by hidden machinery. 

Cambaluc (Peking) is of very ancient date. It was 
the capital of the kingdom of Yen 222 B. C. Genghis 
Khan captured it in 1215, under the name of Yenking. 
Kublai founded a new city a little north-east of old 
Yenking. The existing Tartar city of Peking stands 
on the site of Kublai's city. The latter was eighteen 
miles in circumference. Both cities together measure 
about twenty-six miles. It is surrounded by walls about 
thirty feet high and twenty-five feet in width. At each 
of the twelve gates in Marco's time there were a thou- 
sand armed men, as a guard of honor to the sovereign. 
He also kept a guard of twelve thousand horsemen. 
Three thousand of these guarded the palace for three 
days and three nights, and these were then relieved by 
another three thousand. 

At the feasts of ceremony the great Khan sat at an 
elevated table, with his chief wife on the left. On . his 
right were his sons and other kinsmen at tables, with 
their heads on a level with the Emperor's feet. The 
highest officials and other women sat at tables lower still, 



MARCO POLO. 101 

SO thcat the Khan could look out upon them all. A 
greater part of the officers and soldiers sat on the carpet 
while they ate, and forty thousand persons were outside 
on various errands — many bringing gifts to the Emperor. 
The drinking- vessels were of gold, and beautifully carved. 

Those who waited upon the Khan were barons ; and 
these had their mouths covered with napkins of silk 
and gold, so that no breath should taint the dish or 
goblet presented to the King. When he drank, all the 
musicians played, and the company dropped on their 
knees and made obeisance to him. 

The Khan's greatest feasts were on his birthday and 
at New Year's. He then appeared in robes wrought 
with beaten gold, and his twelve thousand barons and 
knights wore the same color. Thirteen times a year 
the Khan presented suits of raiment to his retinue, so 
that all might have the color which he wore. 

At the NcAv Year's feast all wore white, because they 
thought white clothing was luck}^ More than one hun- 
dred thousand white horses, richly caparisoned, were 
brought as gifts to the Khan. It was customary to 
present nine times nine articles, eighty-one horses, or 
eighty-one pieces of gold. 

Arminius Vambery says of the marriage price among 
the Uzbegs : " The question is always how many times 
nine sheep, cows, camels, or horses, or how many times 
nine ducats the father is to receive for giving up his 
daughter." 

The whole of the Khan's elephants, five thousand, 
covered with inlaid cloths representing beasts and birds, 
were exhibited, each carrying on his back two coffers 
filled with plate required for the White Feast. These 
were followed by a vast number of camels laden with 



102 MARCO POLO. 

things needful for the festivities. No wonder the peo- 
ple thought theirs a wonderful empire, and their Khan 
the greatest monarch of the earth. Before the feast all 
the officials came to the hall of the palace, and at a 
given signal bowed their faces to the floor four times, 
before the Emperor '' as if he were a god. Then all the 
rich and costly presents are seen by the Emperor. A 
lion is also brought before the Khan, which lies down 
with every indication of reverence." 

Marco says the Emperor was a great hunter, and kept 
leopards and several lions to catch w^ild cattle, bears, 
and stags. Eagles, also, were trained to catch wolves, 
foxes, deer, and wild-goats. 

The Khan had two barons, Baian and Mingan, 
" Keepers of the mastiff dogs,'' who each had charge 
of ten thousand men dressed alike, one body in red, 
the other in blue. When the Khan went hunting, he 
had ten thousand men and five thousand dogs at his 
right hand, and the same number at his left hand. The 
two men in charge were obliged to furnish to the court 
one thousand head of game daily, from October to the 
end of March. 

When the Emperor went hunting water-fowl, he took 
with him ^^ten thousand falconers and some five hun- 
dred gerfalcons, besides peregrines, sakers, and other 
hawks in great numbers." 

^^ The Emperor is carried," says Marco, ^^upon four 
elephants, in a fine chamber made of timber, lined 
inside with plates of beaten gold, and outside with 
lions' skins, because he is troubled with gout. He 
always keeps beside him a dozen of his choicest ger- 
falcons, and is attended by several of his barons who 
ride on horseback alongside." 



MARCO POLO. 103 

When the Emperor reached his hunting-ground he 
found liis tents pitched, ten thousand in all, and very 
rich and fine. The tent in which he held court was 
large enough to accommodate a thousand persons. Each 
of the audience tents had three poles of spice-wood. 
The tents were covered with, lions' skins, and lined 
inside with ermine and sable, these two being the 
costliest of furs. The Tartars call the sable " The king 
of furs.'' The tent ropes were all of silk. 

Erom March to October nobody was allowed to hunt 
the hare, stag, buck, or roe, " so that even if a man were 
to find one of those animals asleep by the roadside, he 
would not touch it for the world!" This left an abun- 
dance for the Emperor and his courtiers and their fami- 
lies, from March to the middle of May. 

When the hunting season was over the Khan returned 
to Peking for three days only, which were spent in court 
feasts, and then he retired to his summer palace until 
the 28t]i of August and then back again to Peking. 

Under Kublai was a leading official, Achmath, who 
had obtained great power over the Emperor. People 
were afraid of him, because they knew that he was 
unscrupulous; therefore he had acquired vast wealth 
through bribes. At last the people, in the Khan's 
absence, laid a plot to kill him. They sent a message to 
Achmath that the Khan's son had arrived, and he must, 
of course, meet him. The moment Achmath reached the 
palace his head was cut off with a sword. 

As soon as the Khan knew of it the three leaders 
concerned in the murder were publicly executed. When, 
however, he learned from Marco Polo, Assessor of the 
Privy Council, and others, Achmath's real character, how 
immoral and dishonest he was, the Khan had him dusr 



104 MARCO POLO. 

up, his head cut off aud publicly exposed, and his body 
given to the dogs. His sons were flayed alive, while 
over seven hundred persons who had shared in his 
sins were punished. All his property reverted to the 
Emperor. 

The Great Khan made his own paper money from the 
inner bark of the mulberry-tree. His orders were car- 
ried over the vast empire by means of messengers. 
Every twenty-five miles w^as a station, — a large building, 
witli beds in rich silk, and about four hundred horses. 
Between these stations, every three miles, were houses 
for foot-runners, who, girt with a wide belt hung with 
bells, ran as fast as possible to the next station three 
miles away. Other men at these stations were employed 
when there was great haste, and these went on horses. 
If the horse broke down, the rider was empowered to 
take any horse he found, and go on his journey. 

By the Emperor's orders rows of trees were planted 
along the routes of these messengers, even in the most 
uninhabited places. His astrologers had told him a very 
admirable thing, — that he who plants trees lives long, — 
so, whether true or not, the Khan rendered thereby a 
great service to the generations after him. 

Colonel Yule relates an incident of the tenth century, 
showing how fruit was sent more quickly even than by 
horse-posts. Fatimite Khalif Aziz had a great desire 
for some cherries from Balbek. The Wazir Yakub-ben 
Kilis caused six hundred pigeons to be despatched from 
Balbek to Cairo, each of which carried attached to either 
leg a small silk bag containing a cherry. 

Kublai Khan, with all his great wealth and magnifi- 
cent living, was extremely good to the poor of his realm. 
He caused great granaries to be stored with corn for 



MABCO POLO. 105 

them in time of dearth or famine. Every poor family 
could have a large warm loaf daily by coming to the 
court, and about thirty thousand came each day from 
year to year. He laid a tax^pon wool, silk, and hemp, 
and the artisans gave one day a week to make these 
stuffs into clothes for the poor. 

The Tartars, before they were converted to Buddhism, 
never gave alms, says Marco. When a poor person 
begged of them, they said, '' Go with God's curse, for if 
He loved you as He loves me. He would have provided 
for you ! '' 

To the five thousand astrologers and soothsayers in 
Peking the Khan gave food and clothing as to the poor. 

Coal seems to have been abundant and cheap ; and 
this was necessary, since the people " take a hot bath," 
says Marco, ^Hhree times a week, and in winter, if pos- 
sible, every day.'' 

Kublai was also just to the peasantry. One of his 
sons and a few others, having become separated from the 
array, stayed at a little village of Bishbaligh, where the 
people gave them a sheep and wine. The next year two 
of the party went that way and demanded a sheep and 
wine. The people gave it, but went to the Khan and 
told him they feared the thing would be done every 
year. He sharply rebuked his son, and paid the people 
for the sheep and wine. 

Marco travelled for Kublai through Shan-si, stopping 
at various cities. At one city the sovereign, called the 
Golden King, had in his service none but beautiful girls, 
who used to draw him in a carriage. Colonel Yule says, 
" This precise custom was in our own day habitually 
reported of the Tai-ping sovereign during his reign at 
Nanking. None but women are allowed in the interior 



106 MAECO POLO. 

of the palace^ and he i-S drawn to the audience-chamber 
in a gilded sacred dragon-car by the ladies.'^ 

This Golden King was at war with Prester John, and 
could not conquer him. Finally, seventeen of Prester 
John's court volunteered to bring him the Golden King 
alive. They therefore went to the country of the latter, 
and entered his service for two years, he, meantime 
becoming greatly attached to them. One day, when 
they accompanied him on a pleasure party, when alone 
with him, they told him that he was their prisoner and 
must go to Prester John. 

He begged for their compassion, but they carried him 
away. Prester John was greatly rejoiced, and set the 
Golden King to keep his cattle. At the end of two years 
he called the Golden King before him, gave him rich 
robes, and asked him, " Now, Sir King, art thou satisfied 
that thou wast in no way a man to stand against me ? '^ 
Then Prester John sent the Golden King back to his 
own country with a goodly train, and the latter was 
thereafter the friend of Prester John. 

Marco spent some time at Singanfoo, the capital of 
Shen-si, where the third son of Kublai, Mangalai, had a 
great palace, the interior finished in beaten gold. This 
city has been the capital of many ancient dynasties. 
One of the emperors had beautiful palaces, gardens, and 
parks here one hundred years before Christ. Here, in 
the seventh century, were Christian churches built by the 
Nestorians, as shown by a slab dug up a thousand years 
afterward by some workmen, in 1625. The slab was 
about seven feet by three, covered with Cliinese inscrip- 
tions (surmounted by a cross), telling of the missionaries 
and the Emperor's approval of building a church in the 
principal square of the city. 



I 



MARCO POLO. 107 

Marco went from one province to another inr China, de- 
scribing the products of each and the habits of the people. 
In Yun-nan he saw great serpents ten paces long and 
ten palms in girth, " with eyes bigger than a loaf of 
bread, and mouth large enough to swallow a man whole.'' 
The flesh was used for food, and gall from the inside of 
the animal was sold at a great price as a cure for the 
bite of mad dogs and other ailments. The creatures 
were probably crocodiles. 

The natives had a barbarous custom of killing any 
noted person who came among them, supposing that the 
good name and ability of the murdered man would be 
transferred to the slayers. Kublai put a stop to this cus- 
tom when he conquered the people. It is said that the 
ancient Bulgarians of the Volga had the same supersti- 
tion. If they found a man endowed with special intelli- 
gence, they said, " This man should serve our Lord God ; '^ 
and straightway they put a noose around his neck and 
hanged him to a tree till his body fell to pieces. 

West of Yun-nan lived a people called " Gold-Teeth " 
(Persian, Zar-dandan), because they covered the teeth, 
upper and under, with gold plate. The men went to war 
and hunted, while the women did the work. A mother 
was obliged to go to work at once after her child was 
born, while the father took the infant and remained in 
bed or in the house with it for forty days, not once going 
out-of-doors, the mother waiting upon him and doing all 
the work, in-doors and out. Yule says this was the cus- 
tom among some of the aborigines of the West Indies, 
Central and South America, and West Africa. 

Their money was gold, but for small change they used 
shells. When they were ill, they sent for conjurers, who 
kept the idols, and who acted somewhat after the manner 



108 MARCO POLO. 

of the dancing dervisheSj. wallowing upon the ground and 
foaming at the mouthj before the offended spirit, till the 
man recovered. 

Marco visited Burma, and Laos, and Anara, east of 
Burma. The king of the latter made w^ar against Kublai 
in 1277. The Burmese king prepared two thousand ele- 
phants, with towers of timber, in each of which were 
from twelve to sixteen armed men. He had also sixty- 
thousand soldiers. The Tartar captains gave orders that 
every man should tie his horse to a tree in the forest and 
shoot the elephants with their arrows. The elephants, 
wounded, soon fled into the woods, breaking the towers 
on their backs, and injuring their riders. Then the bat- 
tle waged furiously with sword and mace, and Kublai 
was victorious. Over two hundred elephants were cap- 
tured by the victors. 

A former king of Burma had erected two towers of stone, 
one covered with gold a finger in thickness, and the other 
with silver, with bells around the top of each, so that 
the wind would make them sound. These towers were 
beside his tomb, which was also plated with gold and 
silver. As these were erected for the good of his soul, 
Kublai would not allow them to be disturbed. 

In the capture of Manzi, or Southern China, by Kublai, 
one city, Siang-yangfu, held out for three years after the 
rest of Manzi had surrendered. At the suggestion of 
the Polos, mangonels were made, — machines by which 
stones of three hundred weight or more could be thrown 
into the city. The buildings were soon crushed and the 
people surrendered. 

Marco describes the great river Yang-tse-Kiang, more 
than one hundred days' journey from one end to the 
other, in some places ten miles wide, " the greatest river 



MAUCO POLO. 109 

in the world." America, with its Mississippi and Ama- 
zon, had not then been discovered. Up the Yang-tse- 
Kiang there passed two hundred thousand vessels yearly. 
Marco saw fifteen thousand vessels on it at one time. 
On the rocky eminences along the river idol monasteries 
were to be seen. One on the " Golden Isle/' a little island 
not far from the mouth of the river, was surmounted by 
numerous temples. The monastery had the most famous 
Buddhist library in China. The buildings were entirely 
destroyed by the Tai-pings in 1860. 

Marco describes Ching-kian-foo, where two churches of 
Nestorian Christians were built in 1278. In the war 
between England and China, in 1842, the heroic Manchu, 
commandant, seated himself among his records, and then 
set fire to the building, and perished in it, rather than fall 
into the hands of the English. 

Travelling south-east one reaches Changchow, captured 
by General Gordon in 1864. When Kublai conquered 
Southern China, a company of Alans, who called them- 
selves Christians, were sent to take this city. Finding 
some wine after they had entered the place, they all be- 
came dead drunk, and at night the people of the city fell 
upon them and slew them. This enraged Bayan, w^ho had 
charge of the Great Khan's forces, so he sent a larger 
army and exterminated the whole population. Some his- 
torians say that he boiled the bodies. Genghis Khan, it 
is said, heated seventy caldrons after one of his victories 
and boiled his prisoners. Such was war in barbarous 
times. 

Marco greatly admired Quinsay, which means the City 
of Heaven, and which is now called Hangchow. There 
were twelve guilds of different crafts in the city, and eacli 
guild had twelve thousand houses for its workmen. In- 



110 MABCO POLO. 

side the city was a lake thirty miles in circumference, 
around which the wealthy built palaces. There were 
also spacious halls on two islands in the middle of the 
lake, where marriage feasts were held, and where some- 
times a hundred entertainments were being enjoyed at 
the same time. This provision was made by the Emperor 
for the pleasure of his people. 

At every bridge — and Marco says there were twelve 
thousand — was stationed a guard of twelve men, who 
with a piece of wood and a metal basin struck the hour 
of the night. In case of fire they beat the alarm, and the 
guards from all the bridges near hastened thither, with 
the owners of the property. No others dared leave their 
houses at night, as persons were arrested if found on the 
street after a certain hour. 

The city of Quinsay, with sixteen hundred thousand 
houses, had three thousand hot baths, each so large that 
one hundred persons could bathe together. All our cities 
would do well to copy in this matter the Chinese who 
seven centuries ago were so wise in providing baths for 
the people. A modern writer says, '^ Only the poorer 
classes in Hangchow go to the public baths ; the trades 
people and middle classes are generally supplied by the 
bath-houses with hot water at a moderate charge.'^ The 
people bathe daily. 

In this city was the magnificent palace of the Emperor 
of Southern China. The walls enclosing the palace and 
its beautiful gardens and fountains were ten miles long. 
The palace contained twenty halls finished in gold, 
besides one thousand chambers beautifully painted in 
various colors. 

^ In some of the pavilions the King used to entertain 
ten thousand persons at a feast, which would last for 



MARCO POLO. Ill 

ten or twelve days. A covered corridor, six paces in 
width, led to the lake. On either side were ten courts 
in the form of oblong cloisters surrounded by colonnades, 
and in each cloister were fifty chambers with gardens to 
each. In these chambers were one thousand young ladies 
in the service of the King. 

At Quinsay there were ten large markets, held in the 
squares of the city three times a week, frequented by 
forty or fifty thousand people. Here Marco saw all 
kinds of fruits, vegetables, and meats. The pears 
weighed ten pounds apiece. Colonel Yule says he has 
seen pears in Covent Garden market that must have 
weighed seven or eight pounds apiece, which sold for 
eighteen guineas a dozen — over ninety dollars. 

Colonel Yule thinks this city of Quinsay was the great- 
est then existing in the world. Many other ancient 
travellers confirm Marco's account of the number of 
bridges (twelve thousand), the great wealth and extent 
of the city — one hundred miles in circumference — the 
hundreds of idol temples where from one to two thou- 
sand monks lived in each, the paved squares and streets, 
and the elegantly dressed people. 

Marco Polo was sent by the Khan, after the latter had 
conquered this city, to inspect the revenue and to see 
that correct returns were made of sugar, salt, wine, etc. 
Marco says about fifty million dollars were paid yearly 
to the Khan. Silk paid ten per cent. No wonder that 
Kublai could support twenty thousand men as keepers 
of his dogs, when one city yielded such revenue as this. 

Marco Polo next travelled to Cipango (Japan) where 
he found the people " white, civilized, and well-favored." 
The palace of the king seemed to be of gold, with the 
floors made in plates like slabs of stone, all seeming to be 



112 MAUCO POLO. 

pure gold, and by many believed to be such. Both white 
and rose-colored pearls were in abundance. When a per- 
son died, a pearl was placed in his mouth. 

Kublai Khan was very eager to conquer such a rich 
country, and sent a fleet with one hundred thousand men 
against it. The fleet was scattered by a storm, and the 
Mongols were defeated, thirty thousand men put to 
death, and seventy thousand Coreans and Chinese were 
made slaves. It is stated that only three men were 
spared to be sent back to Kublai to tell him what had 
become of his one hundred thousand. The Great Khan 
wished to send another fleet, but there was such opposi- 
tion to the scheme that he abandoned it. 

Marco visited Cochin China, in Anam, which became 
subject to Kublai. The king had three hundred and 
twenty-six children and fourteen thousand tame ele- 
phants. 

Sailing fifteen hundred miles south-east, Marco reached 
the island of Java, which he found to have surpassing 
wealth in spices. Kublai tried to conquer Java ; but his 
ambassador, Mengki, was sent back to China with his 
face branded like that of a thief. A great armament 
started out from the ports of Fo-kien to avenge this 
insult, but they accomplished little. The death of Ku- 
blai prevented any further attempt at subjugation. 

In Java the Less (Sumatra) Marco found some tribes 
of Cannibals who always ate their prisoners. If the 
sorcerers told them that a sick man would die, they 
smothered him, and ate him. Sometimes they exposed 
their dead in coffins upon rocks by the sea. Many ele- 
phants, monkeys, and the so-called unicorns were seen 
in Sumatra. The Semangs of the Malay Peninsula are 
said to destroy the unicorn in this manner. His whole 



MARCO POLO. 113 

body is often immersed in mud, with only a part of 
his head visible. When the dry weather comes and 
the mud hardens, it is difficult for the animal to extricate 
himself. The Semangs build an immense fire over him, 
and he is soon destroyed and ready to be eaten. 

The natives ate rice and drank wine from the Gomuti 
palm, which, when nine or ten years old, yields it from 
any cut branch, three quarts a day for about two years. 

In Sumatra, where Marco with two thousand men in 
his company stayed five months, detained by contrary 
winds, he found camphor '' worth its weight in gold," 
and sago, which he and his party made into bread and 
found it excellent. Says a modern writer, "The cam- 
phor tree attracts beyond all the traveller's observation 
by its straight columnar and colossal gray trunk and its 
miglity crown of foliage, rising high above the canopy 
of the forest. It exceeds in dimensions the Hosamola, 
the loftiest tree of Java, and is probably the greatest 
tree of the Archipelago, if not of the world, reaching a 
height of two hundred feet. . . . The camphor is found 
in small quantities, one quarter to a pound, in fissure-like 
hollows in the stem. Many trees are cut down in vain 
or split up the side without finding camphor.'^ 

The sago is the pith of the tree, which is put into 
tubs of water and stirred with a wooden spoon. The 
flour sinks to the bottom, while the bran comes to the 
top and is thrown away. One tree will sometimes yield 
nearly a thousand pounds of sago, which will support a 
man a year. 

At the Andaman Islands, in the Bay of Bengal, Marco 
found a tribe small in stature, "no better tlian wild beasts.'^ 
They were black with woolly hair, ate men alive, were 
naked, and murdered the crews of wrecked vessels. 



Hi MARCO POLO. 

In Ceylon, Marco saw precious stones, among them 
some large rubies. It is said that the Emperor of China, 
in the fourteenth century, purchased for his cap a car- 
buncle which weighed more than an ounce. When w^orn 
at a grand levee, the lustre filled the palace ; hence it 
was called the '^Eed Palace-illuminator." 

In a high mountain in Ceylon the people believe 
Adam was buried, and make pilgrimages to the grave ; 
but the Buddhists think it was Buddha. In Marco's 
time Buddha had been worshipped about eighteen cen- 
turies. He was the son of a king, married at sixteen to 
the beautiful Yasodhara, with forty thousand princesses 
in his harem. He had been kept in three elegant pal- 
aces away from the world, lest he should, if he once 
knew the evil and sorrow in it, be led to become an 
ascetic. Driving out one day in a chariot with four 
white horses, he saw an old man, and learned for 
the first time that old age was the portion of many. 
Later he saw a leper, and then a dead man, and learned 
that disease and death come to all. He left his wife 
and infant son at the palace, and thereafter, till his 
death at eighty, devoted himself to doing good to the 
world through a life of self-sacrifice. Buddha's alms- 
pot in Ceylon has been revered for centuries. A poor 
man could fill it with a few flowers, but a rich man could 
hardly be able with ten thousand bushels of rice. It 
was still at Ceylon a few years ago, though it had been 
carried to other countries several times. A sacred tooth 
is still in the island, and another at Foo-Choo. 

From Ceylon, Marco Polo visited India. He describes 
the fishing for pearls. The fishers go out into the gulf 
in vessels, and then, after anchoring, get into small boats 
and jump into the water where it is from four to twelve 



I 



MARCO POLO. 115 

fathoms deep, remaining as long as they can hold their 
breath. They put the shells which contain the pearls in 
a net bag around the waist. The time for fishing is in 
March and April, just between the cessation of the 
north-east and commencement of the south-west monsoon. 
There are now, as then, shark -charmers, who are hired 
to keep the sharks from harming the divers, receiving 
one-twentieth of all the pearls found for their supposed 
valuable services. 

The natives of Eastern India were naked, save a scrap 
of cloth about the loins. The King wore a piece of fine 
cloth about the middle of the body, and a necklace of 
precious stones, rubies, sapphires, and emeralds. From 
his neck he wore suspended on a silk thread one hun- 
dred and four large pearls and rubies, because he had to 
say that number of prayers daily to his idols. His an- 
cestors bequeathed the string of pearls to him for that 
purpose. He wore also three golden bracelets set with 
pearls, anklets on his legs, and rings on his toes. 

This King had five hundred wives. Colonel Yule says 
the necklace taken from the neck of the Hindu King 
Jaipal, captured by Mahmiid in 1001, was composed of 
large pearls and rubies, worth a half-million dollars ! 

When any king died, several barons burnt themselves 
in the fire which consumed his body, so as to be his com- 
panions in the other world. Until recent years women 
burnt themselves at the death of their husbands. 

The criminals condemned to death were allowed by 
the government to commit suicide as a sacrifice to a 
favorite god. 

The people washed the whole body twice every day. 
They fed their horses boiled meat and rice. Ghee, or 
boiled butter, is said to be given now by natives to all 



116 MAECO POLO. 

their horses. Some give a sheep's head occasionally to 
strengthen the animals. 

St. Thomas was believed to be buried at Mailapiir, 
near Madras. Pilgrimages were made thither by both 
Cliristians and Saracens, and earth from his tomb was 
used for miraculous cures. 

Marco tells of some of the Hindu ascetics who lived 
on rice and milk, went naked because they were ^^thus 
born into the world and desired to have nothing about 
them that is of the world/' would not kill a fly or a flea 
because all have souls, slept on the ground without cloth- 
ing over or under them, fasted every day in the year, 
and drank water only. 

Eor any supposed insults duels were fought before the 
King. They could not use the point of the sword, as 
this was prohibited. All the people flocked to see the 
duel, which was continued till one party was left for dead. 

At Coilum (Quilon) Marco saw much Brazil wood, — 
the natives plant the seeds at the birth of a daughter, 
and when the trees come to maturity in fourteen or fif- 
teen years, their sale becomes her dowry, — pepper, and 
indigo. 

^^ The indigo," says Marco, " is made of a certain herb 
which is gathered, and is put into great vessels upon 
which they pour water and then leave it till the whole 
of the plant is decomposed. They then put this liquid 
in the sun, which is tremendously hot there, so that it 
boils and coagulates, and becomes such as we see it." 

Socotra, south of Arabia, was found to be inhabited 
by baptized Christians, with an archbishop. Every ves- 
tige of Christianity had disappeared when P. Vincenzo, 
the Carmelite, visited it in the middle of the seventeenth 
Qentury. 



MARCO POLO. 117 

From India, Marco is supposed to have gone to Mada- 
gascar, on the eastern coast of Africa, and is the first 
European or Asiatic writer. Colonel Yule thinks, who 
mentions the island by name. The ships from India 
reached Madagascar in twenty days. Among other 
things, of interest in these far-off islands, below Mada- 
gascar and Zanzibar, was the Eukh, a bird so large 
that it was reported to be able to seize elephants in its 
talons, and carry them high into the air. Its feathers 
were said to be ninety spans long, while the quill part 
was two palms in circumference ! An egg in the Brit- 
ish Museum of the Aepyornis, once in Madagascar, but 
now extinct, requires two and one-half gallons to fill it, 
and is thirteen and one-fourth inches long. 

At Zanzibar, Marco thought " the women the ugliest in 
the world, with their great mouths and big eyes and 
thick noses." The staple trade was elephants' teeth. 
Their sheep were white with black heads. 

Abyssinia, Marco calls Middle India. He says that 
the Christians in baptism used a hot iron on the fore- 
head, though some later authorities deny that this was a 
religious rite. 

About the beginning of the fourth century there landed 
on the coast of Abyssinia some explorers from Tyre. 
They were all murdered except two, Frumentius and 
Adesius. The former gathered all the Eoman merchants 
together, started a Christian church, and became Bishop 
of Axum, then the leading place for trade in Abyssinia. 
The people for some centuries were somewhat advanced 
in civilization, but they have sadly deteriorated. 

Marco describes Aden, in the south of Arabia, at that 
time a great seaport ; Es-shehr, three hundred and thirty 
miles east of Aden, where the horses, oxen, and camels, 



118 MARCO POLO, 

as well as the people, live on dried fish the whole 
year through, — the cattle eating the little fish alive, just 
as they were taken from the v/ater, — and Dhafai'j 
where incense is gathered from small trees, and sold for 
use in churches. 

Marco finishes his book with an account of Siberia, with 
its immense white bears and black foxes, and its sledgeg 
drawn by dogs, which Mr. Kennan says are half domeS' 
ticated Arctic wolves. When the Tartars went far north 
to the Land of Darkness, as Polo calls it, they rode od 
horses which had colts, leaving the latter behind. Wher 
the Tartars had taken all the plunder they could get 
they found their way home because the mothers b}i 
instinct knew the way back to their colts. 

Finally Marco's twenty-six years of wandering anc 
important missions for Kublai Khan were ended, and 
rich and honored, he went back to live and die in Venice 
He was the greatest traveller of his time. 

John Fiske calls Marco Polo's book '^ one of the mos 
famous and important books of the Middle Ages. It 
contributed more new facts toward a knowledge of the 
earth's surface than any book that had ever been written 
before." 

Colonel Yule shows Polo's right to fame in that ^^ He 
was the first to trace a route across the whole longitude 
of Asia, the deserts of Persia, the flowering plateaus and 
wild gorges of Badakshan, the jade-bearing rivers of 
Khotan, the Mongolian steppes ; . . . the first traveller to 
reveal China in all its wealth and vastness ; ... to tell us 
of Tibet with its sordid devotees, of Burma, of Laos, of 
Siam, of Cochin China, of Japan, the Eastern Thule, 
with its rosy pearls and golden-roofed palaces ; the first 
to speak of that museum of beauty and wonder, still so 



MABCO POLO. 119 

imperfectly ransacked, the Indian Archipelago ; of Java, 
pearl of islands ; Sumatra, Nicobar and Andaman ; 
of Ceylon; of India the Great, not as a dreamland of 
Alexandrian fables, but as a country seen and partially 
explored ; the first in mediaeval times to give any distinct 
account of tlie secluded Christian empire of Abyssinia, 
and the semi-Christian island of Socotra ; to speak of 
Zanzibar and the vast and distant Madagascar; . . . 
of Siberia and the Arctic Ocean ; of dog-sledges, white 
bears, and reindeer-riding Tunguses.'' 



FERDINAND MAGELLAN. 



ABOUT the year 1480, at Sabrosa, in the province of 
Traz-os-Montes, in Portugal, was born Ferdinand 
Magellan. His family was of noble birth. His father 
dying early, the estates came to him, the eldest, instead 
of to his brother Diego, or his sisters, Thereza, Isabel, 
and Ginebra. 

When a lad he left his wild mountain home and was 
placed at Court at Lisbon, that his education might be 
under royal supervision. He became one of the pages 
of the Queen, the widow of Dom Joao II. This monarch 
had been a scholarly man, quite noted as a geographer, 
and called " the Perfect '^ from his, in many respects, 
admirable character. 

In 1495 Dom Manoel came to tlie throne, and Magel- 
lan, then fifteen, passed into his service. Columbus had 
just discovered the New World, and little was talked of 
save exploration. Ships were fitted out to travel the un- 
known waters and see what treasures might be found in 
the far-off islands and in Asia, South America, and Africa. 

Vasco da Gama had undertaken his second voyage to 
India in 1502, and other explorers were starting for 
Brazil, which had been discovered by Pedro Alvarez 
Cabral in 1500, and to Labrador, where Caspar Cortereal 
went about the same time, and was never heard of 

120 



FEBDINAND MAGELLAN, 121 

afterwards. His brother followed him and never re- 
turned. 

Young Magellan was eager to join this adventurous 
company, even though hardships were inevitable and 
death was often the result. 

In 1505 Dom Francisco d' Almeida was sent as first 
viceroy to India, with a large armada. There were about 
twenty ships in all, which carried fifteen hundred men- 
at-arms, two hundred bombardiers, and four hundred 
seamen, besides artisans of almost every kind. 

Magellan, then twenty-five, bade adieu to court-life, 
made his will, giving all his property to his sister 
Thereza, with instructions to say twelve masses yearly 
in Sabrosa for his soul, and enlisted as a volunteer under 
Almeida, 

Before the fleet sailed, in the great Cathedral, in the 
presence of a large audience, Almeida, kneeling at 
the feet of his King^ received the standard of the vice- 
roy, which had been blessed by the bisliop, — the royal 
flag of white damask, with a crimson satin cross, bor- 
dered with gold. 

After the farewells were said, the King coming in 
state to witness the departure, the fleet left the mouth 
of the river Tagus, March 25, 1505, sailed along the 
coast of Africa, rounded the Cape of Good Hope in 
severe storms, and landed at Sofala, on the eastern side 
of Africa, where they built and garrisoned a fortress. 

They arrived at Quiloa on July 22 ; and, as the African 
king was not willing to be subject to Dom Manoel, Al- 
meida promptly stormed the town. Next they reached 
the important city of Mombaza, where their ships 
were fired upon. In a short time the city was stormed 
and the ten thousand Moors overcome. The defeated 



122 FEIWINANB MAGELLAN. 

King agreed to pay a yearly tribute of ten tliousand 
serafins, ai)d presented the son of Almeida, Dom Lou- 
ren§o, with a sword and collar of pearls worth thirty 
thousand cruzados, (A cruzado was forty-five cents.) 
Probably Almeida reasoned that Portuguese civilization 
was higher than African, and that the conquest of Africa 
and India was a beneficial thing for the inhabitants, — 
an idea not obsolete even in this nineteenth century. 

From Mombaza the fleet crossed the Indian Ocean, 
burnt the ships and took the possessions of the King 
of Onor, who had sent Almeida an insolent message, 
reached Cananore, in India, Oct. 22, where tliey built a 
fortress, and a few days later came to Cochin, where 
Almeida was to assume the rank of viceroy. King 
Nambeadora came in state on his elephant to meet the 
viceroy, who was clad in brilliant garb, a coat of red 
satin, black buskins, and an open black damask cassock 
which formed a train. The King, whether at heart will- 
ing or unwilling, was publicly crowned by his new 
friend, the viceroy. 

Once in power, Almeida sent back to Spain as many 
ships as he could spare, filled with pepper and spices 
from the Cochin factories, and prepared himself for a 
peaceful and successful reign over the people of India. 

But the peace was of short duration. The Moors 
rose against this new government, and collected a fleet 
of two hundred and nine vessels. Dom Lourengo, the 
son of Almeida, met them with eleven ships off Cananore, 
March 16, 1506, and a bloody battle ensued. The Por- 
tuguese were successful even against such odds, and 
the Moors were driven out of their ships into the sea. 
'^ God be praised ! let us follow up our victory over 
these dogs,'' said Dom Lourengo, and the fight was 




FERDINAND MAGELLAN. 



FEBDINAND MAGELLAN. 123 

waged to the bitter end. The next day more than 
thirty-six hundred bodies were washed ashore, " forming, 
as it were, a hedge." Nearly eighty Portuguese were 
killed and over two hundred wounded, among the latter 
young Magellan, who must by this time have had all 
the adventure which he longed for. 

The Moors, finding themselves unable to cope with 
the Portuguese, obtained the assistance of the Sultan of 
Egypt. A severe battle was fought the last of Decem- 
ber, 1507, in the river of Chaul, at which the Portu- 
guese were defeated. Dom Louren^o's leg was shattered 
by a cannon-ball, but he fought till his ship sank, and 
perished with his men. 

Two months later Almeida avenged the death of his 
son in a great battle, when between three and four thou- 
sand Moors and Mamelukes were slain. The Portuguese 
were victorious. Among the wounded we again find 
Magellan. 

Almeida, greatly to his disappointment, saw himself 
superseded in ofiice by Affonso d' Albuquerque, who had 
had great success on the northern shores of the Indian 
Ocean over the Mussulmans. Almeida, therefore, started 
for Portugal, but was killed on the journey in a battle 
with the Kafirs, in which the Portuguese lost eleven of 
their captains. 

In 1509 Magellan sailed with a fleet wliich had been 
sent out to India from Lisbon to explore Malacca, a 
great centre of trade. The advent of the Europeans 
caused much alarm ; but the King affected to receive them 
in a friendly manner, and invited the leaders to a ban- 
quet. Fearing treachery, the Portuguese declined, but 
were prevailed upon to send their boats ashore that they 
might be filled with pepper and other goods. 



124 FERDINAND MAGELLAN. 

After the sailors had gone in their boats, the Malays 
crowded on board the ships. At a given signal — a puff of 
white smoke — those on sea and land were to be slaugh- 
tered. One of the leaders, suspecting treachery, sent 
Magellan in the only remaining boat to the flagship to 
warn the captain-general. It was just in time to save his 
life. The Malays on his ship were driven overboard and 
the fleet escaped. The men on shore were murdered. 
Two years later this treachery was avenged in the fall of 
Malacca through Albuquerque. Eight hundred Portu- 
guese and six hundred Malabar archers defeated twenty 
thousand men. Through Malacca passed all the commerce 
of the Moluccas, the Philippines, Japan, and China to the 
Mediterranean ; therefore its capture made the name of 
Albuquerque known far and wide. 

Magellan purposed in 1510 to return to Portugal, after 
an absence of five years, and left Cochin about the 
middle of January. The ship in which he sailed and one 
other ran at night upon a shoal of the Great Padua 
Bank. It was decided to return to India, about one hun- 
dred miles distant; and there was contention as to who 
should go first, the crews being unwilling that the officers 
only should go in the boats. Magellan, with a magna- 
nimity which was characteristic of him, said that he would 
remain with the crews, if those about to return would 
promise to send aid. This they did, and Magellan and 
the crews were rescued later. 

After an expedition to Java, Celebes, and some other 
islands, Magellan carried out his purpose of returning to 
Portugal, after a seven years' absence. He was now 
about thirty-two. He had shown himself a brave soldier, 
a skilful navigator, and a fearless traveller. 

He remained in his native land about a year, and then 



FERDINAND MAGELLAN. 125 

joined a great armada of four hundred ships and eighteen 
thousand men-at-arms, against the Moors of Azamor in 
Morocco, who had rebelled against Dom Manoel. They 
were quickly subdued. In a skirmish a little later, 
Magellan was hit in the leg with a lance, and made 
slightly lame for life. 

On April 12, 1514, the Moors attempted to retake 
Azamor ; and though they were routed, leaving two thou- 
sand of their men on the field, they pressed on towards 
the city, only to find the walls destroyed, and the country 
round about laid waste. They were soon put to flight, 
over a thousand Moors made prisoners, and nearly as 
many horses captured. 

Magellan and another captain were put in charge of 
the booty. They were accused, whether wrongly or not, 
of selling cattle to the Moors, and permitting them to be 
carried off at night. For this, or some other reason, 
Magellan left Africa, and returned to Lisbon. 

He sought Dom Manoel and asked for promotion and an 
increase of pay — about twenty-five cents a month — for 
his long-continued service. To his surprise he was told 
that he had left Africa without the permission of his supe- 
rior officer, and ordered at once to go back to Azamor, to 
answer the charges against him. He returned, wounded 
in spirit, as he felt that he had served his king long and 
faithfully. At Azamor the authorities refused to pro- 
ceed against him, and Magellan came back at once to 
Portugal, hoping that his king would send him to India, in ^ 
some honorable position. Dom Manoel made a serious 
mistake for himself and his country when he received' 
the young noble coolly, and would not listen to his en- 
treaties. It is said by one of the old historians that 
Magellan "demanded permission to go and live with 



126 FERDINAND ^MAGELLAN. 

some one who would reward his services. . . . The King 
said he might do what he pleased. Upon this Magellan 
desired to kiss his hand at parting, but the King would 
not offer it to him.'' 

It is probable that Magellan urged upon the King a 
project he had long had in mind — the passage to the 
rich Moluccas, or Spice Islands, by sailing westward 
around Cape Horn, at the extremity of South America, 
rather than eastward around the Cape of Good Hope in 
Africa. He had used all his spare time in studying 
maps and charts. He knew that navigators had sailed 
far along the South American coast, and that Vasco 
Nuiiez de Balboa had looked upon a great ocean (the 
Pacific) from the mountains in the Isthmus of Darien, 
now Panama. Balboa fell upon his knees at the time of 
his discovery, Sept. 25, 1513, thanking God, and took 
possession of the whole seacoast in the name of Spain. 
Four years later, at the age of forty-two, he and four 
faithful friends were beheaded on the trunk of a tree, on 
the unjust charge of treason, through petty jealousies of 
his superiors in office. 

Magellan's intimate friend, Francisco Serrao, was 
then living in the Moluccas. He had been wrecked 
some time previously upon a deserted island, infested 
by pirates. As soon as these latter saw the wreck they 
landed, intending to capture the survivors. Serrao kept 
his men hidden near the beach, and when the pirates 
had left their vessel, the Spaniards took possession of it. 
The thieves saw that they would be without food or 
water, and begged for protection, which they received 
after a promise that they would repair the Spaniards' 
wrecked vessel. All reached the Moluccas in safety, 
and Serrao remained there for life, writing to Magellan 



i 



FERDINAND MAGELLAN. 127 

tliat ^^ lie had discovered yet another new world, larger 
and richer than that found by Vasco da Gama.'' Magel- 
lan wrote back that he would come thither, ^^ if not by 
way of Portugal, then by way of Spain." 

Dom Manoel was not wise enough to remember that 
there were other nations interested in navigation besides 
Portugal, and that all power does not rest in any one 
person, however prominent For Magellan to remain 
in Portugal under Dom Manoel was to see his hopes 
thwarted, and his life unsuccessful. He determined, 
therefore, to bid adieu forever to his own country and 
enter the service of the great Emperor of Spain, Charles 
V. For this course he was always condemned by the 
Portuguese : declared to be a monster, and a traitor to 
liis king, and one willing to sow discord between the 
two nations. Yet he did what Columbus and others 
did — when one king refused to aid, they sought another 
crowned head. 

Magellan reached Seville, in Spain, Oct. 20, 1517, not 
discouraged by the ingratitude of his own ruler, but 
anxious lest Charles V. should look upon a westward 
passage to the Spice Islands as visionary and futile, 

Magellan was received into the home of Diogo Bar- 
bosa, a Portuguese, alcaide of the arsenal, a relation, 
possibly a cousin, where he remained for three months, 
Barbosa had served Spain fourteen years, had been one 
of the discoverers of the islands Ascension and St, 
Helena, and, like his son, Duarte Barbosa, was a skilled 
navigator. With all Magellan's absorption in his plans 
to discover new worlds, he found time to fall in love 
with Beatrix Barbosa, the beautiful daughter of his host, 
and was married at the age of thirty-seven before he 
went to conit at Valladolid, probably taking his young 
bride with him. 



128 FEBBINANB MAGELLAN. 

Magellan laid his plans first before the Casa de Con- 
tratacion ; but as this Portuguese was only one of many 
who had schemes to equip vessels for exploration, no 
attention was paid to the matter. Magellan learned 
what everybody learns sooner or later, — that there is no 
easy road to success ; that he who is unwilling to over- 
come obstacles would better never undertake any matter 
of importance. One of the three chief officials of the Casa 
de Contratacion, Juan de Aranda, was wiser than his 
fellows, or perhaps more drawn to the slender and lame 
Portuguese, and had faith in the westward passage. 
Through him an opportunity was made of presenting 
the matter not only to Sauvage, the Lord High Chan- 
cellor, Cardinal Adrian of Utrecht, Fonseca, Bishop of 
Burgos, but to Charles V. himself, then only eighteen. 

^Magellan and a scholarly friend, Euy Faleiro, taking 
their globe with them, explained to the King their pur- 
pose, and asked that he would fit out the ships at his 
own expense, rewarding the explorers as he thought 
best ; or wealthy friends would provide the ships for 
them, if the King would give them the trade and owner- 
ship of the lands discovered by them. 

The King, not unmindful, perhaps, that his grand- 
mother, Isabella, had aided Columbus, and thus brought 
everlasting honor to herself, promised to provide an 
armada of five ships, to be provisioned for two years, 
with two hundred and thirty-four officers and crews. I^o 
other explorers should be sent to the Spice Islands for 
ten years ; the territory of the King of Portugal should 
not be intruded upon; and Magellan and his friend Faleiro 
should receive one-twentieth part of the profit of thisir 
discoveries, and be governors of the islands — discovery, 
evidently, always meaning conquest. 



FERDINAND MAGELLAN. 129 

But the fitting-out of the armada was not to be an 
easy thing after all. The Court at Portugal was greatly 
incensed when they learned that Charles V. (whose 
sister Eleanor, twenty, was about to become the third 
wife of Dom Manoel, aged fifty) was to befriend a navi- 
gator whose cause they had refused to consider. 

They wrote earnest appeals to Charles; they sent 
messengers to Magellan begging him not to persist in 
his enterprise, and thus sin against God and his king ; 
and when words did not avail, an effort was made to 
assassinate him, which proved unavailing. 

After much delay the armada was finally made ready : 
the San Antonio, one hundred and twenty tons ; Trini- 
dad, one hundred and ten tons ; Concepcion, ninety 
tons ; Victoria, eighty-five tons ; Santiago, seventy-five 
tons. Even when all was ready Magellan was mobbed, 
it was believed by some emissaries of the King of 
Portugal. 

At last, nearly two years after he came to Spain, he 
heard mass in the church of Santa Maria de la Vic- 
toria in Seville, and sailed down the river with his 
fleet, Aug. 10, 1519. Remaining at the Port St. Lucar 
de Barrameda for a month, he made his will, giving the 
lands he should discover to. his little son Rodrigo, then 
six months old, one-tenth of his income to three con- 
vents, and, in case of the death of his son, one-fourth 
to his wife, besides the return of the dowry which she 
brought him at her marriage, six hundred thousand 
viaravedis. On the day of his burial three poor men 
were to be clothed, and food given to them and to 
twelve others, ^^anda gold ducat as alms for the souls 
in purgatory.^' 

On Sept. 20, 1519, the fleet sailed away, amid the 



130 FEUDLNAND MAGELLAN. 

booming of cannon from ships and shore, destined to 
make the first voyage around the world. 

Magellan was in the Trinidad, as was also his brother- 
in-law, Duarte Barbosa. The ships carried nearly six 
thousand pounds of powder, a thousand lances, two 
hundred pikes, three hundred and sixty dozen arrows, 
ninety-five dozen darts, many cannon, and much armor 
for the men. Evidently while Magellan hoped to Chris- 
tianize the peoples whom he should find, he had other 
measures in reserve besides persuasion. 

The ship carried many charts, compasses, and the like, 
and quantities of goods for barter: knives, over two 
thousand pounds of quicksilver, twenty thousand bells, 
ivory, velvets, and glass. Several scholars had joined 
the expedition, among them an Italian, Antonio Piga- 
fetta, who kept a valuable journal and published it on 
his return. 

The fleet sailed towards the Canary Islands, stopping 
for wood and water at Teneriffe, then along the African 
coast, past Cape Verde and Sierra Leone, suffering some- 
what from heavy storms, and having rain for sixty days 
while they were in the vicinity of the equator. Their 
course was so slow that the rations of the men were 
reduced to two quarts of water per day, and the bread 
to one pound and a half. 

Taking a westerly course, they crossed the Atlantic, 
arrived near Pernambuco in South America, Nov. 29, 
rounded Cape Frio, and entered the harbor at Eio de 
Janeiro. 

They found the natives friendly, willing to exchange 
enough fish for ten men for a looking-glass, a large 
basket of sweet potatoes for a bell, or one of their chil- 
dren or several fowls for a- big knife. The people lived 



FERDINAND MAGELLAN. 131 

in long, low huts, ate the flesh of their captives, and 
were nearly naked, wearing a sort of apron of parrots' 
feathers. Monkeys and birds of gorgeous plumage 
abounded. 

Mass was twice said on shore by the Spaniards, in 
which the natives joined, kneeling and raising their 
hands to heaven, from whence they believed the pale 
faces had come, bringing rain with them, as it had not 
rained for two months previous to the arrival of the 
ships. 

The fleet sailed away Dec. 26, following the coast, so 
that no inlet or strait should be overlooked which might 
furnish a passage across the continent. Arriving at the 
Eio de la Plata, they landed, and caught a quantity of 
fish. One night an Indian, dressed in goat-skins, came 
in a canoe to the ship. Magellan gave him a cotton 
shirt and some other articles, hoping that he would 
return and bring his friends, but he never came back. 
When the Spaniards attempted to catch some of the shy 
natives, they proved too fleet for them. 

Going farther south, they found great numbers of 
"sea wolves," probably seals, and killed many. The 
winter was coming on, and storms were very severe, 
carrying away parts of their ships. After weeks of 
suffering they anchored in Port St. Julian, March 31. 

Food was scarce, and the diminished rations caused 
great complaining. The cold was intense, and some 
had died from exposure. They begged of MageHan to 
go back to Spain, lest they all should perish, as evidently 
land stretched far away to the South Pole, and there 
was no hope of entering the Pacific Ocean. 

Magellan censured them for their lack of courage, 
and said, for himself, he was determined to die rather 



132 FERDINAND MAGELLAN, 

than return. There were plenty of fish and birds in 
the bay for food, and if they would push on, wealth 
and honor were before them. 

For a time the men were content, but cold and suffer- 
ing brought again their natural results. The men de- 
clared they were not sailing towards the Moluccas, but 
to a land of ice ; that as Magellan was a Portuguese, 
he did not care if crews of Spaniards perished. Fearing 
the influence of such murmuring, the captain-general 
arrested the complainers. But it was too late ; a mu- 
tiny had already been arranged. At night the captain 
of the Concepcion, Gaspar Quesada, Juan de Cartagena, 
the second officer, and over thirty armed men boarded 
the San Antonio, placed the captain, Alvaro de Mes- 
quita, in irons, killed the master, and cleared the deck 
of the ship for action. The Victoria, with Louis de 
Mendoza at its head, joined the insurgents. 

As soon as Magellan heard that three of his five ships 
had turned against him, he resolved upon decisive meas- 
ures. All seemed lost, — no western passage discovered, 
and a return to Spain, if at all, in disgrace. Many a 
man would have quailed before such odds. Not so 
Magellan. 

A skiff with five men bearing concealed weapons was 
despatched to Mendoza, of the Victoria, summoning him 
to the Trinidad to meet Magellan. As he refused to go, 
he was instantly stabbed to death. Another boat with 
fifteen picked men under Duarte Barbosa, brother-in-law 
of Magellan, appeared at once alongside the Victoria, 
boarded her, and compelled the surrender of her crew. 

Then the Trinidad, the Victoria, and the Santiago 
stationed themselves at the entrance of the port to 
intercept the San Antonio and the Concepcion. Wlieu 



FERDINAND MAGELLAN. 133 

tlie former came in sight the Trinidad fired upon her 
with large bombards^ and she was boarded by tlie crew 
oE the Victoria. Quesada and his helpers were seized 
and put in iron.s ; forty men were condemned to death 
For treason, but were pardoned. Quesada was belieaded, 
and his body quartered, as was that of Mendoza, while 
Juan de Cartagena and a priest were left among the 
savages, perhaps to share an equally dreadful fate. 

These measures seemed very severe ; but if the insur- 
gents had been permitted to put Magellan in an open 
boat, as was Henry Hudson among the icebergs of Hud- 
son Bay, to die of hunger and cold, or had they killed 
their leader, as tliey intended, others might have found 
the westward passage, but not Magellan. 

The Santiago, now that the mutiny was quelled, was 
sent ahead to examine the coast and look carefully for 
the eagerly expected strait which should lead them into 
the Pacific. She sailed to the Rio de Santa Cruz, sixty 
miles away, where she found abundance of fish and 
seals, or sea-wolves, weighing five hundred pounds. A 
sudden and violent storm came on, and the ship went 
to pieces. The crew, thirty-five in number, without 
provisions, had to make their way as best they could 
seventy miles through the wilderness to their comrades. 
When they reached the river Santa Cruz, it was decided 
that two only should cross on the little raft which they 
liad made, while the rest encamped to wait for the ships. 
For eleven days the men made their solitary journey, 
fording marshes, cutting their way through forests, and 
living on roots and leaves. At length, thin and worn, 
they reached their comrades. 

Magellan did not dare risk his vessels, so he sent 
a party of twenty -four men with food to the starving 



134 FERDINAND MAGELLAN 

company. They could find no water, and were obliged 
to melt snow for drink. At last all were brought back 
in safety, but much broken in health by exposure. 

After remaining for weeks in Port St. Julian without 
seeing a single inhabitantj the sailors were astonished 
one day by the coming of a gigantic Indian, so tall that 
the Spaniards came only "to the level of his waistbelt." 
His face was painted red, his hair white, yellow circles 
were around his eyes, and his covering Avas the skin of 
the guanaco. He was shown, among other things, a 
large steel mirror, and, seeing himself in it, was so 
astonished that, springing backward, he knocked over 
four of the Spaniards. Still, he was not displeased at 
knowing how he looked, for he accepted a mirror as a 
present. 

After this other natives came, several women among 
them, leading small guanacos by a string as they would 
dogs, with the purpose of enticing other animals of the 
same kind, so that the men might shoot them with their 
arrows. 

The Patagonians were found to be a strange people, 
eating rats without stopping, to skin them, living mostly 
on raw meat, thrusting arrows down their throats when 
they were ill, or cutting themselves across the forehead 
when they had headache. 

Magellan, desirous of securing some of these savages 
for Charles V., practised a deception, which seemed far 
from right. When some of the Indians came on board 
the Trinidad, he loaded them with presents, and then 
showed them how a pair of irons could be fitted to the 
legs. These irons were at once riveted by a hammer, 
and the men were prisoners. 

When they found they had been deceived, they in- 



FEHBINANB MAGELLAN. 135 

voked Setebos, their Great Spirit, and called in vain for 
their wives, as the Spaniards understood by their signs. 
Magellan sent two Indiana bound to the shore in charge 
of some armed Spaniards. One Indian escaped, though 
he was wounded in the head. When they reached the 
huts of the natives, the other Indian spoke a few words 
to the w^omen, who, instead of going to the ship, imme- 
diately fled into the forest. 

After spending between three and four months in Port 
St. Julian, the fleet sailed for the Santa Cruz Eiver, where 
they obtained an abundance of fish and dried it. 

When October came Magellan found the weather so 
much warmer, and the winter broken, that they again 
started in earnest for the westward passage. On Oct- 
21, 1520, they " saw an opening like unto a bay.'' The 
fleet was ordered to enter, and the Concepcion and the 
San Antonio were sent on in advance to see if it were 
indeed a strait. A fearful storm came on, and it was 
feared for a time that the vessels were lost. Finally 
they returned, their masts gay with flags, having found 
that the inlet, or bay, extended for a very great distance. 

Magellan now sailed farther on, well assured in his 
own mind that the long-sought strait was found. After 
a month had gone by, on Nov. 21, he issued an order 
demanding of his captains and pilots their views about 
continuing the voyage. All were for going onward 
except Estevao Gomes, the pilot of the San Antonio. 
He said now that they had found the strait, they might 
all perish before the Molucca Islands were reached, as 
nobody knew the width of the Pacific. 

Magellan, who had evidently been testing their cour- 
age and perseverance, replied that " if they had to eat 
the leather on the ships' yards, he would still go on and 



136 FElimNANB MAGELLAN. 

discover what he had promised the Emperor/' He de- 
chired that no one under pain of death should discuss 
the difficulties before them, knowing that discontent 
doubles if we dwell upon our obstacles. 

They sailed onward and, Nov. 28, they emerged from 
tlie strait, afterward named Strait of Magellan in honor 
of its discoverer, and looked upon the great Pacific Ocean. 
So overjoyed were they that Magellan wept, as well as 
his companions. Guns were fired, and thanks were 
returned to God and the Virgin Mary. 

With this great joy came an unexpected sorrow. 
Gomes and the San Antonio, the largest of the ships, 
and carrying the larger part of the stores, had deserted 
and returned to Spain. He and his companions had 
stabbed the faithful Captain Mesquita, and put him in 
irons, and then turned the vessel homeward. On May 
6,1521, she reached the port of Seville. The Patagonian 
prisoner, one of the two whom Magellan had allowed to 
be bound, died on the passage. 

The other Patagonian, who was on board the Trinidad, 
died about the time they reached the Pacific. '' When 
he felt himself gravely ill, of the malady from which he 
afterwards died," says Pigafetta, the Italian, " he em- 
braced the cross and kissed it, and desired to become a 
Christian. We baptized him and gave him the name of 
Paul.'' 

The navigators were thirty-eight days passing through 
tlie strait. The land to the south having many fires, 
they called it " Tierra del Fuego," land of fire, which 
name it has always retained. The tempests were over, 
and for three months and twenty days they sailed on a 
smooth and apparently boundless ocean, without a single 
storm. No wonder Magellan named it the Pacific. 



I 



FERDINAND MAGELLAN, 137 

After two months' sailing they came to an island, but 
it was uninhabited, and eleven days after another, but 
they found neither food nor water. Their condition had 
become distressing. The water on board was too offen- 
sive to touch, and their biscuits were full of worms. 
They did indeed eat .the " leather on the ships' yards," 
as Magellan had determined to do rather than turn back. 
They softened the leather by letting it hang overboard 
three or four days, and then cooked it. on the embers. 
Sawdust was used for food, and they ate rats with avidity. 
Scurvy broke out, and many died. Only three of the 
five ships were left, and the number of sailors on these 
was daily lessened. 

The weeks wore on, until finally, March 6, land was 
sighted, and a number of pra%is, queer-looking boats, 
with palm-leaf sails, like lateen sails, came out to meet 
them. The Spaniards had discovered the Marianne or 
Ladrone Islands. 

Great was their rejoicing to find fresh fruit and vege- 
tables. The natives were thievish, and greatly annoyed 
Magellan by taking the skiff under the stern of the flag- 
ship, and, indeed, whatever they could lay their hands on. 
Driving them off the ships, they sent back stones and 
burning torches. The next day Magellan burned one of 
their villages and several of their boats, killed seven or 
eight men, regained his own skiff, and took whatever 
provisions he wished. 

The natives were unacquainted with the use of bows 
and arrows, and when one of their number was wounded, 
he would draw the arrow out of his body and look at it 
wistfully, which touched the hearts of the explorers. 

The people had no clothing except aprons of bark. 
They, lived in wood huts, thatched with fig-leaves ; their 



138 FERDINAND MAGELLAN. 

food was for the most part figs, fish, and birds ; their 
weapons, long sticks with sharpened fisli-bones at the 
ends. 

The fleet left the Ladrones, and on March 16 reached 
the Philippines, and anchored on the little island of 
Suluan. The natives were very friendly, bringing cocoa- 
nuts, oranges, bananas, fowls, and palm wine, in return 
for which they received red caps, looking-glasses, bells, 
and other things. Their chief came with them, wearing 
large gold ear-rings and rich gold bracelets. 

The sick sailors were put on shore in two large tents ; 
and each day Magellan went to visit them, giving them 
cocoanut milk to drink with his own hands. 

After nine days the fleet sailed to Leyte Island, where 
Magellan's slave, Enrique of Malacca, found that the 
people understood his Malay tongue. The shy natives 
would not at first come to the flagship, so Magellan put 
some presents on a plank and pushed it towards them. 

A little later the King came, and brought fish and rice 
in person to the Admiral. In return Magellan gave him 
a Turkish red and yellow robe, with a red cap, and they 
became friends through the ceremony of blood-brother- 
hood ; that is, each one tastes the blood of the other, 
drawn from the arm. The King was shown the armor of 
the men, their swords and guns, and the maps and charts 
which Magellan had studied so closely. After a dinner 
together, which the King seemed to enjoy, two Spaniards 
went on shore, and the King entertained them. 

Pigafetta, who was one of them, thus describes the 
visit: " The King took me by the hand, while one of his 
chiefs took my comrade's, and we were led in this man- 
ner under a canopy of canes, where there was a Z>aZa^r?a^, 
or canoe, like a galley, on the poop of wliich we sat, con- 



FEBDINAND MAGELLAN, 139 

versing by signs, for we had no interpreter. The King's 
followers remained standing, armed with swords, dag- 
gers, spears, and shields. A dish of pork with a large 
vessel full of wine was brought, and at each mouthful 
we drank a cup of wine. If, as rarely happened, any 
was left in our cups, it was put into another vessel. The 
King's cup remained always covered, and no one drank 

V from it but he and I. . . . 

/ " Before the hour of supper I presented to the King 
the many presents I had brought with me. . . . Then 
came supper-time. They brought two large china dishes, 
the one filled with rice, the other with pork in its 
gravy. We ate our supper with the same ceremonies 
and gestures as before. We then repaired to the palace 
of the King, in shape like a sort of hay -loft or rick, cov- 
ered with banana leaves, and supported on four large 
beams, which raised it up from the ground, so that we 
had to ascend to it by means of ladders. On our arrival 
the King made us sit upon a cane-mat with our legs crossed 
like tailors on a bench, and after half an hour a dish of 
fish was brought, cut in pieces and roasted, another of 
freshly gathered ginger, and some wine. The King's 
eldest son having entered, he was made to sit next me, 
and two more dishes were then brought, one of fish, with 
its sauce, and the other of rice, to eat with the prince. 

" For candles they used the gum of a certain tree called 
a?iime, wrapped up in leaves of the palm or banana. The 
King now made a sign to us that he desired to retire to 
rest, and departed, leaving the prince with us, in whose 
company we slept on cane-mats with cushions stuffed 
with leaves." 

In the morning the Spanish guests departed, the King 
and they kissing each other's hands. 



140 FERDINAND 3IAGELLAX 

When Easter came, March 31, mass was said with 
much ceremony, the Indian King and his brother kiss- 
ing the cross, and kneeling with joined hands as did the 
Spaniards. A cross and crown of thorns was set upon a 
hill that the Indians might thereafter see and adore it. 

Wishing to visit other islands for gold and spices, the 
King offered to be their pilot; but from excessive eating 
and drinking he slept all one day, and then they were de- 
layed, as he had to gather his rice harvest. In this the 
Spaniards helped, and all being ready, the fleet depart-ed 
April 4, and entered the port of Sebu Sunday, April 7. 

They found a beautiful island, abounding in fruit, 
with birds of brilliant plumage, and quite large and busy 
villages. Their customs were, most interesting to the 
explorers. Mr. George M. Towle, in his " Life of Magel- 
lan,'^ thus describes a Sebu funeral, the circumstances 
gathered from the old chronicles : — 

" The chiefs corpse was laid in a chest in his house ; 
around the chest was wound a cord, to which branches 
and leaves were tied in a fantastic fashion, while on 
the end of each branch a strip of cotton was fastened. 
The principal women of the island went to the house of 
mourning and sat around the corpse, wrapped in white 
cotton shrouds from head to foot ; beside each woman 
stood a young girl, who wafted a palm-leaf fan before 
her face. 

" Meanwhile, one of the women was engaged in cut- 
ting the hair from the dead man's head with a knife. 
His favorite wife all this time lay stretched upon his 
body, witih her mouth, hands, and feet pressed close to 
his. As the woman concluded her hair-cutting, she broke 
into a low, dismal, wailing song, which the others after 
awhile caught up. The attendants on the mourners then 



FERDINAND MAGELLAN. 141 

took porcelain vases with burning embers on them, upon 
which they kept sprinkling myrrh, benzoin, and other 
perfumes, that formed a cloud of incense in the room. 

^^ These ceremonies and mournings continued for seve- 
ral days ; meanwhile, the body was anointed with oil of 
camphor to preserve it ; and at the end of the mourning 
period it was solemnly deposited in a kind of tomb, made 
of wooden logs, in the neighboring forest/^ 

A treaty was made with the King of Sebu, by blood- 
brotherhood, and then Magellan made them an address 
through an interpreter. Anxious to win all the islands 
of the sea, not only for Spain, but for the Eoman Catho- 
lic faith, he urged their becoming Christians, not through 
fear, nor the wish to please the Spaniards, but because 
it was right. 

The King soon expressed a wish to be a Christian, 
and on April 14, on a scaffolding in the centre of the 
town, the ceremony of baptism took peace. Magellan 
came in state with forty men in armor, and the King and 
more than fifty others, dressed in white, and all were bap- 
tized, Magellan and the King sat in two velvet chairs, 
one red and the other violet. 

The Queen and forty of her ladies were baptized the 
same day, she receiving the name of Joanna, after 
the mother of Charles V., and the King, Carlos, after the 
Emperor. Pigafetta gave to the queen a carved figure of 
the Virgin and child, which she seemed greatly to prize. 
She was young and quite pretty, wearing a black and 
white robe, and a large hat made of palm leaves. • About 
eight hundred persons were baptized the same day, and 
later all the inhabitants of Sebu, and some on the neigh- 
boring islands, several thousand persons in all. 

They were told that they must burn all their idols, wood 



142 FERDINAND MAGELLAN. 

images, hollowed out behind, and arms and legs apart, 
with broad face and four teeth like those of a wild 
boar. Most of them were burned. 

The idols were retained, however, in the house of a 
nephew of the King, a valiant warrior, who was very ill. 
Magellan informed the King that if the nephew were bap- 
tized, he would at once recover, and if this were not the 
case, he would forfeit his head. A procession was ar- 
ranged in the square where the cross had been set up, and 
soon reached the sick man's house, where it was found 
that he could, neither speak nor move. Magellan, not 
doubting that his prayer for the man would be answered, 
baptized him, and asked how he felt. He replied much 
better, and in five days rose from his bed recovered, and 
burned his idols. 

Magellan, overjoyed at such professions of Christian- 
ity, offered to protect the King from any disloyal subjects 
or antagonistic rulers, — a rash thing to do, but his enthu- 
siasm in christianizing the people was as great as his 
desire to circumnavigate the globe, and find the westward 
passage to the Moluccas. He felt grateful to the King 
of Sebu, and a sense of honor seemed to impel him to'this 
unfortunate promise. 

One of the minor chiefs, Silapulapu, rebelling, Magel- 
lan sent an expedition against him, which burnt one of 
his villages, and erected a cross over the ashes. It is 
not strange that their associations with the cross there- 
after were not pleasant, and that they determined upon 
revenge. 

Magellan was urged by his friends not to proceed 
further in the matter ; but he resolved not only to pun- 
ish them, but to conquer all for the newly converted 
Kins: of Sebu. 



FERDINAND MAGELLAN. 143 

At midniglitj April 26, 1521, Magellan with sixty men 
in three boats, and the King of Sebu with about one 
thousand men in twenty or more war canoes, started for 
the little island of Mactan. Magellan preferred not to 
shed blood, and sent a message to Silapulapu that if he 
would submit and pay tribute, all would be well, but if 
not, ^^ he would learn how our lances wounded." 

The Indians sent word back that '^ if the Spaniards 
had lances so had they, albeit only reeds and stakes 
hardened by fire ; that they were ready for them." 

When morning came the king of Sebu begged to lead 
the assault, with his thousand men ; but Magellan, over- 
confident, and wishing to show the Indians how his men 
could figlit, ordered the King and his men to remain in 
the canoes, while he and forty-eight Spaniards landed, 
April 27, 1521, and attacked the rebels. The other 
twelve of Magellan's men remained to guard the boats. 
The Spaniards were at once surrounded by from fifteen 
hundred to six thousand natives, who threw stones and 
javelins at those portions of the body not covered by 
armor. 

Some of the Spaniards set fire to the houses, which 
made the natives more furious than ever. They singled 
out Magellan, the leader, for their persistent attack. 
An arrow had pierced his right leg ; and seeing that an 
advance was impossible, he ordered a retreat, but it was 
too late. Most of the Spaniards fled from such unequal 
warfare, only six or eight staying by their commander. 
Fighting hand to hand, they reached the shore. Magel- 
lan twice had his helmet torn off, and received a spear 
wound in the right arm. A bamboo spear was run into 
his face also, and he in turn plunged his lance into the 
breast of his pursuer. The enemy, seeing that he could 



144 FERDINAND MAGELLAN. 

not draw out his sword on account of the wound in his 
right arm, rushed upon him and struck a blow on the 
left leg, which made him fall forward on his face. The 
end had come. They ran him through and through witli 
iron-pointed spears and cimeters. Eight of his men lay. 
dead beside him and four Christian Indians. '' His obsti- 
nate resistance/' says Pigafetta, '' had no other aim than 
to give time for the retreat of Jiis men.'' 

It seemed pitiful to die in this manner after facing all 
the perils of the sea, without reaching the Moluccas, or 
circumnavigating the globe ; but he had discovered the 
westward passage, and had pointed out the way around 
the world to all future travellers. 

When word was brought to the King of Sebu that 
Magellan was killed, he wept like a child. He had left 
his canoes and gone to the aid of his pale-faced friend,, 
but it was too late. 

The Spaniards sailed back to Sebu, well-nigh crushed 
that their leader was gone. They offered any amount 
desired for the body; but Silapulapu declared that it 
should always be kept as a token of their victory, and 
the bones of the great navigator never left Mactan. A 
monument has been erected there to his memory. 

Thus perished the man of noble family, the fearless, 
indomitable, unselfish Magellan. " In the history of 
geographical discovery," says Dr. F. H. N. Guillemard 
(late lecturer in geography at the University of Cam- 
bridge), in his Life of Magellan, "there are two great 
successes,, and two only, so much do they surpass all 
others, — the discovery of America and the circumnavi- 
gation of the globe. Columbus, and Magellan are the 
only possible competitors for the supremacy." Lord 
Stanley of Alderley, in his "First Voyage round the 



FERDINAND MAGELLAN, 145 

World/' calls Magellan ^^undoubtedly the greatest of 
ancient and modern navigators ; '' and Dr. Guillemard adds 
that it ^^is an opinion which a careful investigation 
obliges us to accept/' . 

Magellan's family soon followed him. The little son 
Rodrigo died six months after his father, September, 
1521, and his wife, Beatrice, broken-hearted for her child 
and lier husband, — a second child was dead at its birth, 
after Magellan's departure , — died in less than a year 
after her husband, March, 1522. 

The first work of the disheartened explorers was to 
select a leader to guide the fleet towards the Moluccas, 
now that Magellan had fallen. Two were chosen, 
Duarte Barbosa, the brother of Beatrice, and Joao 
Serrao, his faithful friend and the brother of Francisco. 

Other troubles were before them. The King of Sebu 
had found that the great Spaniards whom he had sup- 
posed came from heaven were mortal like himself. The 
successful Silapulapu had sent word that unless he 
broke his alliance with the Spaniards and renounced 
Christianity, he would invade his kingdom. The Malay 
slave interpreter, Enrique, becoming disaffected towards 
Barbosa, told the King that his masters were going to 
attack the town and carry the King into captivity. 

Perhaps it was quite natural for the King to have 
some doubts about his new-made friends ; and while they 
in turn did not entirely trust him, still they were unpre- 
pared for his treachery. He sent word that he had some 
jewels which he wished to give to the King of Spain, 
and invited Barbosa and several officials to dine with 
him. Barbosa decided to accept the invitation, and took 
twenty-eight armed men with him. 

The King met them graciously, and they at last forgot 



146 FKltBINAND MAGELLAN. 

their suspicions. Suddenly the King sprang from his 
seat and plunged a dagger into Barbosa's breast, and at 
the same instant each Spaniard was slaughtered by an 
Indian. Only one escaped towards the boat, Serrao. 

Just as he came near, the savages caught and bound 
him ; but they offered to release him if those on the 
ships would give two cannon and some merchandise. 
Serrao begged for his shipmates to save him ; but they 
paid no attention to his cries, and sailed away as fast as 
possible. Serrao was at once stabbed to death. The 
cross on the hillside was torn down, and the natives 
returned to their idols. 

The iieet at this time was not half as large as when 
they left Seville, — then over two hundred and seventy ; 
now one hundred and fifteen. The Concepcion was so 
unseaworthy that she had to be burned. Only the Vic- 
toria and the Trinidad remained. 

These two ships sailed along the western coast of 
Mindanao, where they found the King friendly. He 
drew some blood from his left hand, putting it on his 
face, breast, and tongue, and the Spaniards did the same. 
The King invited them to his long, low hut, where they 
had fish and rice ; and they also visited the Queen, sur- 
rounded by her slaves. She was weaving a mat, and 
left her work to play for the visitors on a sort of timbrel. 
She wore many gold rings and bracelets, and in the King's 
house several of the utensils were of solid gold. 

They next reached Palawan, and found to their de- 
light, as they had only food enough for eight days, 
an abundance of pigs, goats, yams, cocoanuts, and rice. 

On June 21 they started for Borneo, and, after a time, 
entered its capital, Brunai, where they found about 
twentj^-five thousand people — some of the old historic 



I 



FERDINAND MAGELLAN. 147 

ans say one hundred thousand — living in houses built 
on piles in the water. The chiefs came out to meet 
them in gayly painted boats, bringing presents of honey, 
eggs, wooden vessels filled with betel, which the natives 
chewed, and arrack, a drink made from rice. 

The Spaniards sent handsome presents to the King, — 
a Turkish coat of green velvet, a chair of violet velvet, 
a glass vase, gilt goblet, etc., with a pair of slippers and 
silver case of pins for the Queen, besides presents for 
the chief courtiers. 

Twelve natives, richly dressed, met the Spaniards with 
two great elephants, covered with silk, on whose backs 
were palanquins, on which the visitors were offered 
seats. The natives carried porcelain vases covered with 
silk napkins. Tliese were to receive the presents in- 
tended for the King. 

The palace of the King was a large house, reached by 
a broad flight of steps. The walls were hung with bril- 
liant silks. He was very rich, and many of his house- 
hold articles were of pure gold. Three hundred of the 
King's guard, with daggers drawn, their hilts of gold 
studded with gems, their fingers covered with rings, 
were stationed in the hall leading to the royal apart- 
ment. This the Spaniards could not enter, but could see 
the monarch, about forty years old, and his little son, 
surrounded by a number of wives. They were not al- 
lowed to speak to the King in person ; but they could 
give their message to a chief, and he to another, and he 
in turn to the prime minister, who stood by the King's 
side. They were obliged to join their hands above their 
heads, raise first one foot and then the other, make three 
low bows to the King, and then kiss their hands to him. 
After the presents were laid at his feet, some rich silk 



148 FERDINAND MAGELLAN. 

and brocade were sent to the Spaniards, and they were 
offered cloves and. cinnamon to eat. After this a chief 
entertained them with a repast of chickens, peacocks, 
veal, fish, rice, and arrack. The rice they ate with gold 
spoons. They were provided with wax candles, and 
even with oil lamps. 

Astonished at what they had seen, the Spaniards re- 
mained for a month, and held traffic with the people; 
They rode in the King's barges, and the houses of the 
chiefs were offered for their use. The King never left 
his palace except for hunting, so he did not visit the 
ships. 

The inhabitants were nearly naked, were followers of 
Mahomet, skilful in making porcelain and china, and 
rich in various products. 

After a month in Borneo, the ships sailed for the 
Moluccas. They were soon obliged to put in to a har- 
bor for repairs. After this they sailed south-east, and 
Nov. 8, 1521, saw the high peaks of Ternate and Tidor. 
" The pilot," says Pigafetta, '^ told us that they were the 
Moluccas, for the which we thanked God, and to comfort 
us we discharged all our artillery. Nor ought it to cause 
astonishment that we were so rejoiced, since we had 
passed twenty-seven months, less two days, always in 
search of these Moluccas, wandering hither and thither 
for that purpose among innumerable islands." 

They anchored in twenty fathoms, close to the shore 
of Tidor. Almanzor, the King, received them most cor- 
dially. He was a stately monarch, never bowing his 
head, so that in entering the cabin of the Trinidad, he 
was obliged to do so from the upper deck, so as not 
to stoop. His servants carried golden vessels of water, 
betelj and other necessaries, and his son bore his sceptre 



FERDINAND MAGELLAN. 149 

before him. He had two hundred wives, each noble 
family being obliged to furnish one for the King. These 
women were carefully guarded, and any man found near 
their house was put to death. The King ate alone, or 
with his Queen, a wife considered superior to the other 
two hundred. 

The friend of Magellan, Francisco Serrao, to whom 
he wrote that ^^he should come to the Moluccas, if not 
by way of Portugal, then by Spain,'^ was dead. He 
was poisoned, it was said, by the King of Tidor, because 
Serrao, who was captain-general of the King of Ternate, 
conquering the former, made him give his daughter to 
the King of Ternate as his wife. 

One of the sons of the King of Ternate came with 
the widow of Serrao and her two little children to the 
fleet. 

Trade was soon begun with the natives. Several of 
the kings made treaties, and sent presents to Charles V. 
One king desired to send over four thousand pounds of 
cloves as his present; but the ships were already so 
laden with spices/ that Espinosa, the captain of the 
Trinidad, did not dare take any more. Among the presents 
sent by this king were some skins of the bird of Para- 
dise. The Mohammedans, who traded with the natives, 
had told them that this bird was born in Paradise, where 
were the souls of those who died. As so many wonder- 
ful things were in this abode of souls, they accepted 
the Mohammedan religion to be allowed to share in 
these comforts. 

Dec. 18 the ships, filled to overflowing with spices, 
started homeward, sorry to leave the beautiful Moluc- 
cas. The Victoria started first, and the Trinidad 
attempted to follow her. A bad leak was discovered, 



160 FERDINAND MAGELLAN. 

and she was obliged to remain and unload her cargo. 
Sad farewells were said, and the Victoria went on 
alone. 

She sailed south-east to the island of Timor, and then 
across the Indian Ocean for the Cape of Good Hope. 
The ship was poor, and delay was occasioned by frequent 
repairs. The meat on board spoiled for lack of salt, and 
the sailors were reduced to living on rice. Scurvy came 
to decimate their numbers. Nearly one-third of the Span- 
iards died, and nine of the thirteen natives. They had 
scarcely enough men left to work the ship. 

At last, after three years lacking twelve days, Sept. 
8, 1522, they anchored once more at the port of San 
Lucar de Barrameda, and next day sailed up the river to 
Seville in Spain. The Victoria brought home twenty- 
six tons of cloves, besides cinnamon, nutmegs, and other 
spices. Crowds gathered to welcome the first circum- 
navigators of the globe ; cannon were fired, and there 
was great rejoicing, as it was supposed that all were lost. 
The next day they walked barefoot, carrying tapers, to 
the churches of Santa Maria de la Victoria and Santa 
Maria de Antigua, and gave thanks for a safe return. 

The Emperor Charles V. sent for the little band of 
explorers to come to Valladolid, where he gave them a 
public welcome. Each person received a handsome pen- 
sion, and Juan Sebastian del Cano, the captain of the 
Victoria, five hundred ducats yearly and a coat-of-arms. 
This device consisted of two cinnamon sticks, three nut- 
megs, and twelve cloves with a globe, and the words 
" Frimiis circumdedisti me ^' (Thou first encompassed 
me.) Two Malay kings supported the shield. The nav- 
igators were surprised that they had lost a day in their 
reckoning. The Emperor submitted the matter to an 



FEBhlNAND MAGELLAN, 151 

astronomer, who showed that travelling with the sun 
from east to west, they lost time, and from west to east, 
they gained time. 

The Victoria made one more voyage to the West In- 
dies. She was again sent to Cuba, and must have gone 
to pieces in some gale, as neither she nor her crew was 
ever heard of afterwards. 

After the Trinidad had been repaired at the island of 
Tidor, Espinosa decided to sail eastward across the 
Pacific again, hoping to reach the Spanish settlement 
at Panama. After weeks of severe storms, he was 
obliged to return to the Moluccas. Three-fifths of Ins 
men had died from an epidemic on board, brought on by 
poor food and exposure ; only nineteen were left out of 
fift3^-four. 

On their return to Tidor they found that the Portu- 
guese had come with seven vessels and three hun- 
dred men under Antonio de Brito and demanded of the 
King why he had admitted Castilians, when the Portu- 
guese had been there so long before. Espinosa Avas 
obliged to surrender his men and ship to de Brito ; yet 
as Spain and Portugal were apparently friendly, he 
hoped for fair treatment. The vessel soon went to 
pieces in a storm, but the Portuguese saved her timbers 
and used them in building a fortress. 

Antonio de Brito wrote to his King concerning the 
officers of the Trinidad that he thousrht it would '^ be 
more to your Highness's service to order their heads 
to be struck off than to send them to India. I kept 
them in the Moluccas, because it is a most unhealthy 
country, in order that they might die there, not liking 
to order their heads to be cut off, since I did not 
know whether your Highness would be pleased or not.^^ 



152 FERDINAND MAGELLAN, 

This certainly did not look very promising for Espi- 
nosa and his men. 

They were obliged to go to work for the Portuguese, 
until the end of February, 1523, when, with the excep- 
tion of two carpenters whom de Brito needed, they were 
allowed to start homeward. 

They were first taken to Banda. Four were lost in 
getting there. The others were detained in Banda for 
four months, and then sent by way of Java to Molacca. 
Four died there. Five months later they were sent to 
Cochin in India in two or more ships. The junk in 
which three sailed was never heard of. When the others 
reached Cochin, the vessel which went back to Portugal 
once a year had already gone. Disheartened, two of 
them hid themselves on board another ship bound for 
Portugal. At Mozambique, having been discovered, they 
were put ashore with the intention of sending them 
back to India, but one died and the other secreted him- 
self again on a ship, arrived at Lisbon, and was thrown 
into prison. He was finally released by order of the 
King. 

Only three were left out of the Trinidad's company : 
Espinosa, the captain, Mafra, a seaman, a.nd Master 
Hans, bombardier of the Victoria. The latter soon died, 
and Espinosa and Mafra were kept in prison for seven 
months after their arrival in Portugal. Finally Espi- 
nosa was released and appeared before Charles, who 
made him a noble, and gave him a life pension of three 
hundred ducats. 

The westward passage through the Strait of Magellan 
had been discovered, and the way round the world ascer- 
tained, but only through fearful suffering and the loss of 
over two hundred lives. 



FERDINAND MAGELLAN. 153 

John Fiske, in his delightful and scholarly '^ Discov- 
ery of America," calls this voyage of Magellan's '^ the 
most wonderful in history ; . . . doubtless the greatest 
feat of navigation that has ever been performed, and 
nothing can be imagined that would surpass it except a 
journey to some other planet.'^ 



Sm WALTER RALEIGH. 



SIE WALTEE EALEIGH, soldier, colonizer, states- 
man, poet, courtier, was born in 1652 at Hayes, in 
the eastern corner of South Devon, England. He was 
descended from one of the noted families of the realm, 
who by reason of much forced contribution to royalty, 
and perhaps also through too costly manner of living, 
had become somewhat reduced in their estates. 

His mother, Catherine, " a woman of noble wit and 
of good and godly opinions," was a Eoman Catholic in 
the time of Queen Mary, but his father, Walter, was a 
Protestant. 

In the persecutions under this Queen, among the here- 
tics shut up in jail previous to their being burned was 
Agnes Prest, whom Mrs. Ealeigh visited with the hope 
of converting her. The fearless Agnes told the gentle- 
woman to seek the body of Christ in heaven and not on 
earth, and that the sacrament was only a remembrance 
of his death. " As they now use it," she said, " it is 
but an idol, and far wide from any remembrance of 
Christ's body, which will not long continue, and so take 
it, good mistress." 

When Mrs. Ealeigh came home she told her husband 
that she never heard a woman talk so simply, godly, and 
earnestly, ^^nsomuch that if God were not with her, she 

154 



I 




SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 



SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 155 

could not speak such things. I was not able to answer 
her : I who can read, and she cannot." This probably 
went far towards making Mrs. Ealeigh a Protestant. 
Both parents are buried in Exeter Cathedral. 

The son Walter — he had an older brother, Carew, 
and a sister Margaret — entered Oriel College, Oxford, 
about 1568^ when he was sixteen years old. Here he 
was liked for his wit as well as his scholarship, becom- 
ing "the ornament of the Junioi-s and a proficient in 
oratory and philosophy.'' 

He left college early to engage in the religious wars 
of the time. Queen Elizabeth, sympathizing with the 
persecuted Protestants of France, permitted men and 
money to be sent to their aid. Young Raleigh, active 
and full of courage, went in a troop of a hundred gentle- 
men volunteers, well mounted, led by his cousin, Henry 
Champernowne, with the motto, " Finem det mihi virtus '' 
(Let valor decide the contest). 

Mr. Edward Edwards, in his life of Ealeigh, says that 
although the men were sent to France by Queen Eliza- 
beth and her ministers, each soldier wore on his breast a 
scroll with words explaining that if he were captured 
and hanged, he had met his fate, "for having come, 
against the will of the Queen of England, to the help of 
the Huguenots ! '^ Such duplicity seems to have been 
common in those days. ' 

Little is known of Ealeigh's part in these battles for 
five or six years. He says, however, in his " History of 
the World,'' referring to these times, " I saw in the 
third civil war of France certain caves in Languedoc 
which had but one entrance, and that very narrow, cut 
out in the midway of high rocks which Ave knew not 
how to enter by any ladder or engine, till at last, by 



156 SIR WALTER RALEIGH, 

certain bundles of straw let down by an iron chain, and 
a weighty stone in the midst, those that defended it 
[Catholics] were so smothered as they surrendered them- 
selves, with their plate, money, and other goods therein 
hidden/^ 

As Ealeigh was not killed at the dreadful massacre of 
St. Bartholomew, 1572, when one hundred thousand 
people were massacred by order of Charles IX., at the 
instigation of his mother, Catharine de' Medicis, it is 
probable that he found refuge in the house of the 
English ambassador, Walsingham, with young Sir Philip 
Sidney and others. 

Ealeigh remained in France until after the death of 
the young King, Charles IX., May 30, 1574, at the age of 
twenty-four. Mr. William Oldys, in his life of Raleigh, 
1733, and Mr. Arthur Cayley, 1805, assert tlmt Ealeigh, 
on his return to England, took part in the wars of the 
Netherlands, especially at Eimenant, in August, 1578. 
Don John of Austria had been appointed governor of 
the Low Countries by his brother, the King of Spain. 
His tyranny became offensive to the people; and Eliza- 
beth, fearful of Spanish increase of power, aided the 
Netherlands. The latter gathered an army near the 
village of Eimenant. Don John at the head of about 
thirty thousand men rushed upon them, when the latter 
made believe that they were retreating. Don John, 
excited with the hope of this easy victory, pushed rap- 
idly onward, and soon came upon their real camp with 
nineteen thousand soldiers. He was completely routed, 
and survived his defeat only two months. 

About this time — 1578 — Sir Humphrey Gilbert, half- 
brother to Ealeigh, the son of his mother by a former 
marriage, was preparing to make explorations along the 



SIB WALTER IIALEIGH, 157 

Atlantic coast. He was a graduate of Oxford, governor 
of the province of Munster, a refined and scholarly man, 
and had great influence over Ealeigh. 

As Henry VII. had lost his opportunity of discovering 
the New World, Isabella of Castile having assisted Colum- 
bus just before his brother Bartholomew had gained the 
promise of aid from Henry, the English naturally desired 
some share in the new-found lands. John Cabot sailed 
from Bristol, England, May, 1497, with two ships and 
three hundred men, and after going seven hundred 
leagues found land, probably the island of Cape Breton, 
at the eastern extremity of Nova Scotia. He sailed 
along the coast three hundred leagues to Florida. Peter 
Martyr says, ''" Cabot directed his course so far towards 
the North Pole that even in the month of July he found 
monstrous heaps of ice swimming on the sea, and in 
manner continual daylight ; yet saw he land in that tract 
free from ice, which had been molten. Therefore he 
was enforced to turn his sails and follow the west. . . . 
He sailed so far towards the west that he had the island 
of Cuba on his left hand.'' 

It is probable that Sebastian Cabot, the son of John, 
was with him on this or a later voyage. In Winsor's 
^^ Narrative and Critical History of America'' one finds 
a valuable account of the Cabots. 

England, from these discoveries, felt that she had a 
right equally with Spain to colonize the new country. 
Indeed, it is difficult to find the "right" of any nation 
to dispossess the Indians, except in the old adage that 
" might makes right." 

Ill the autumn of 1578, Sept. 23 (according to Mr. J. A. 
Doyle's " English Colonies in America " ), Gilbert sailed 
from Dartmouth, England, for Newfoundland, with eleven 



168 SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 

ships and enough food for a year, with the hope of 
founding a colony. One of the ships leaked and had to 
be left at home, and seven more soon deserted. There 
was a sea-fight with the Spaniards in which Raleigh took 
part, and Gilbert was finally obliged to return home, after 
the loss of one of his largest ships. That Raleigh went 
to the West Indies before this is probable, as there was 
a volume, now lost, entitled ^' Sir Walter Raleigh's Voy- 
age to the West Indies." 

In 1583, June 11, Gilbert sailed again to Newfound- 
land. He had lost so much by the previous unsuccess- 
ful voyage that he was obliged to sell a large part of 
his landed estate. Raleigh gave two thousand pounds 
to fit out a ship which bore his name, the Ark Raleigh. 
Two hundred and sixty men were enlisted — masons, car- 
penters, miners, and those of other trades — in this fleet 
of five ships. As Raleigh was already at court, and had 
become ^ favorite with Elizabeth, she would not spare 
him lest he be in another '' dangerous sea-fight ; '^ but she 
sent good words to Gilbert in departing, " wished as great 
goodhap and safety to his ship as if herself were there in 
person," asked him to send her his picture by the hand of 
her handsome young courtier, Raleigh, and gave him "an 
anchor guided by a lady " to wear at his breast. 

Two days after starting from Plymouth, the Ark 
Raleigh, having a contagious fever on board, went back 
to shore. In the latter part of July the fleet reached 
Newfoundland, and Gilbert took formal possession in 
the Queen's name. Thirty-six ships of many nations 
were in St. John's harbor trading in codfish and whale- 
oil, but these seem to have promised walling allegiance 
to the Queen. The arms of England engraved on lead 
w^ere fixed on a pillar of wood. Gilbert then granted 



SIE WALTER RALEIGH, 159 

parcels of laud to each person for a yearly rent, as they 
^^ found no inhabitants, which by all likelihood have 
abandoned these coasts, the same being so much fre- 
quented by Christians," says an old dhronicle. The 
savages had by this time become well convinced that 
the '^ Christians " had not come from heaven to bring 
them blessings, as they had at first supposed. 

Gilbert enacted three laws : the first that the Church 
of England should be the recognized church ; that if any- 
thing were attempted prejudicial to her Majesty's right 
of those territories, the offender should be executed for 
high treason; and if anybody should utter words against 
her Majesty, he should have his ears cut off and his 
property confiscated. 

Many of the men soon became ill in the new countries ; 
and several, tired of work as were the Spaniards under 
Columbus, deserted and went home on some fishing- 
vessel. Gilbert finally sent home the sick on the ship 
Swallow, and with the rest of the fleet sailed south- 
ward for exploration. 

After seven days out the Delight, the only large 
ship of the fleet, with most of the provisions and cloth- 
ing on board, struck a rock and went to pieces in sight 
of the other ships. Only sixteen men were saved from 
the wreck, and these were without food or water. They 
found their way back to Newfoundland and later to 
England. 

The weather grew worse, food became scarce, and on 
Aug. 31 Gilbert sailed homeward himself in the Squir- 
rel, of ten tons' burden, the smallest of the fleet. He 
was urged to go in a better vessel, but he said he would 
not forsake the little company with whom he had shared 
so many perils. A severe storm overtook them Sept. 9. 



160 SIE WALTER B A LEIGH. 

Gilbert sat abaft with a book in his hand, calling out to 
the men on the Golden Hind, " Be of gpod heart, my 
friends ! We are as near to heaven by sea as by land." 
At midnight his lights disappeared, and his ship sank 
beneath the waves. Only one vessel, the Golden Hind, 
returned to Falmouth, the other ship having gone down 
with the Squirrel. 

Kaleigh meantime had been busy in the wars in Ire- 
land. In the insurrection in Munster, under the Earl of 
Desmond, Ealeigh helped to subdue the Irish, believing , 
then, as was the usual belief at that time, ^^that the Irish 
were like nettles, sure to make those smart who gently 
handled them, and must be crushed to prevent stinging." 

Coming upon a party of rebels, and seeing one of them 
with a great bundle of withes, Ealeigh asked what they . 
were for. " To have hung up the English churls," 
was the reply. " Well," said Ealeigh, " but they shall 
now serve for an Irish kern," and immediately, says 
Oldys, commanded that the rebel '' be tucked up in one 
of his own neckbands." The rest were put to death in 
some manner. 

These were times of little mercy on either side. At 
the siege of Eort del Ore in the bay of Smerwick in 
Kerry, for three days Ealeigh had the principal com- 
mand, and on the fourth it was given to John Zouch, 
afterwards killed in a duel. On this day the Italians 
who were aiding the Irish waved the white flag, and 
cried out, " Misericordia I Misericordia ! " The garrison 
begged that their lives might be spared if they surren- 
dered ; but stern Lord Grey would give no quarter, and 
at least six hundred men were at once put to death by 
the sword. Ealeigh and Mack worth were ordered by 
Grey to enter and '' fall straight to execution." All the 



SIR WALTER RALEIGH, 161 

Irish, both men and women, were hanged. Two of 
^^the best sort '^ had their arms and legs broken before 
being hanged on a gallows on the wall of the fort. 

Ealeigh was fearless and brave, and though severe, he 
was only like most others of the time. Such severity 
bore its own bitter fruit in Ireland in the centuries which 
followed. 

Raleigh gained much local fame by the rescue of a 
friend from a river into which his horse had thrown him. 
He and six companions while crossing a stream were to 
be seized if possible by the rebels, who had a force twenty 
times his own. Ealeigh dashed through the rebel crowd 
and crossed the river, when the cries of his companion 
for help made him turn back. Ealeigh helped him up ; 
but Moyle, his friend, in attempting to mount his horse, 
fell on the other side into deep mire, and had to be helped 
a second time. Not one of Ealeigh's men was secured 
by the rebels. 

Ealeigh for a short time was Governor of Munster and 
later of Cork. While at the latter place he set out with 
ninety men to capture Lord Eoche at his castle, Bally- 
in-Harsh. Five hundred of the townspeople, learning 
of the approach of Ealeigh, had hastened to the castle 
to defend the owner. The young soldier — he was now 
about twenty -eight — soon put them to flight. He en- 
tered the castle, took Lord and Lady Eoche and their 
attendants twenty miles to Cork in the darkness, over a 
rocky and difficult passage, and did not lose a single man 
in the skirmish, only one dying from a fall in the dark 
journey homeward. Lord Eoche became a faithful sub- 
ject of the Queen, and three of his sons died in her 
service. 

After two years in Ireland, Ealeigh was delighted to 



162 SIR WALTER RALEIGH, 

leave it for the court. When, some years later, the Earl 
of Desmond was beheaded (his brother. Sir John, was 
hanged, his body fixed on the gates of Cork, and his head 
sent to London ; his younger brother, Sir James, was 
also hanged, drawn, and quartered, and the fragments of 
his body hung in chains over the gates of Cork), his land 
and that of his confederates, over five hundred and sev- 
enty thousand acres, passed to Elizabeth, who gave it to 
some of her subjects, Ealeigh receiving twelve thousand 
acres in the counties of Cork and Waterford. He finally 
sold it to Eichard Boyle, afterward Earl of Cork. 

How young Ealeigh became the favorite of the Queen 
at court, or was brought especially to her notice, is not 
certainly known. Fuller, who was a schoolboy boy when 
Ealeigh died, in his " Worthies of England " tells this 
story. The Queen was at Greenwich: "Her Majesty 
meeting with a plashy place, made some scruples to go 
on ; when Ealeigh (dressed in the gay and genteel habit 
of those times) presently cast off and spread his new 
plush cloak on the ground, whereon the Queen trod gently 
over, rewarding him afterwards with many suits for his 
so free and seasonable tender of so fair a foot-cloth.'' 

After this he wrote with a diamond on a window-glass, 
where the Queen could see it, — 

" Fain would I climb, yet fear I to fall.'' 

She soon after wrote beneath it, — 

*' If thy heart fail thee, climb not at all." 

Perhaps a more probable reason of his being liked by 
her was his wit and manly bearing when summoned be- 
fore the lords to answer in a dispute between himself and 
Lord Grey. "He had much the better in telling of his 



i 



SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 163 

tale/^ says Sir Robert Naunton, later Secretary of State 
under James I., '' and so much that the Queen and the 
lords took no small mark of the man and his parts. . . . 
Raleigh had gotten the Queen's ear at a trice ; and she 
began to be ta,ken with his elocution, and loved to hear 
his reasons to her demands, and, the truth is, she took 
him for a kind of oracle, which nettled them all." 

Raleigh w^as a man of fine physique, six feet tall, dark 
hair, w^hich very early became gray, a face unusually 
bright and alert, with, as Naunton says, "a good presence 
in a handsome and well-compacted person ; a strong nat- 
ural wit, and a better judgment; Avith a bold and plausi- 
ble tongue, whereby he could set out his parts to the best 
advantage." 

His clothes were of the richest material, and much 
covered with gems. A full-length portrait of him shows 
a white satin pinked vest, close-sleeved to the wrist, a 
brown doublet embroidered with pearls, a sword-belt also 
embroidered in the same manner, the dagger on his right 
hip enriched with jewels, the black feather of his hat 
with a ruby and pearl, his fringed garters of white satin, 
and his buff-colored shoes tied with white ribbons. His 
shoes were so bedecked with jewels that one author says 
they were worth ^^six thousand six hundred gold pieces.'^ 
His pearl hat-band and another jewelled article were once 
stolen from him at Westminster ; and these, says Mr. 
Gosse, were worth, in money at that time, one hundred 
and thirteen pounds. Doubtless much of this display was 
to please the Queen, who, despite her learning and un- 
questioned ability, was extremely fond of dress, having 
in later years, as Agnes Strickland says in her ^' Life of 
Elizabeth," ^^ three thousand gowns and eighty wigs of 
divers colored hair." Under her tutor in early life, Roger 



164 SIB WALTER BALEIGH. 

Ascham, she had becofD.e proficient in several languages. 
^^ French and Italian she speaks like English/' he wrote ; 
^^ Latin with fluency, propriety, and judgment. She also 
spoke Greek with me frequently, willingly, and mode- 
rately well. . . . She read with me almost the whole of 
Cicero and a great part of Livy. . . . The beginning of 
the day was always devoted by her to the New Testa- 
ment in Greek, after which she read select orations of 
Isocrates and the tragedies of Sophocles, which I judged 
best adapted to supply her tongue with the purest dic- 
tion, her mind with the most excellent precepts, and her 
exalted station with a defence against the utmost power 
of fortune." 

He wrote later ^^that there were not four men in Eng- 
land, either in church or the state, who understood more 
Greek than her Majesty.'' 

Sir Eobert Naunton said of Elizabeth : '^ She is of 
personage tall ; of hair and complexion, fair, and there- 
withal well-favored, but high-nosed ; of limbs and feature, 
neat; of a stately and majestic comportment." Bacon 
spoke of her "great dignity of countenance, softened 
with sweetness." She knew that her white, slender 
hands, with long fingers, were beautiful. 

At this time, 1582, Ealeigh, the court favorite, was 
about thirty, and the Queen nearly fifty. The Earl of 
Leicester (Robert Dudley) had long been the favorite, so 
much so that it was supposed that she would marry him. 
Before her coronation, when she entered London on horse- 
back, dressed in purple velvet, he rode beside her. She 
invested him with the Order of the Garter, made him 
Master of the Horse, constable of Windsor Castle and 
forest, and keeper of the great park during life. His 
wife, Amy Eobsart, whom he had married with great 



SIR WALTER RALEIGH, 165 

display in the reign of Edward VI., the brother of Eliza- 
beth, was not allowed at court, lest the Queen should 
not bestow upon him so much attention. Her death at 
Cumnor Hall, Berkshire, by falling down-stairs, was be- 
lieved by many to have been caused by the earl. She must 
at least have died broken-hearted. That Elizabeth liked 
Leicester there is no doubt; for she remarked to the 
French ambassador laughingly, " I cannot live without 
seeing him every day ; he is like my lap-dog, so soon as 
he is seen anywhere they say I am at hand ; and wher- 
ever I am seen, it may be said that he is there also." 

But she probably never seriously intended to marry him 
on account of his inferiority in rank to herself ; for she 
said, " The aspirations towards honor and greatness 
which are in me cannot suffer him as a companion and 
a husband.'^ She had often declared that she would not 
marry at all, and if she did, "not a subject, for she had 
it in her power to wed a king if she pleased, or a power- 
ful prince.'^ 

It seemed as though every nation offered her its leader 
as a husband ; but she refused all, sometimes because 
she thought England would not like a foreign prince, 
but more often because she could not like them herself. 

Leicester, probably in 1572, after Amy Eobsart's 
death, had married privately a high-born lady of the 
court, a cousin of the Queen, Douglas Howard, the young 
widow of Lord SheflEield. After she had borne him a 
son and a daughter, it is said that he attempted to poi- 
son her, that he might marry Lettice KnoUys, also 
a cousin of the Queen, and wife of the Earl of Essex. 
Finally he divorced Douglas Howard and married Let- 
tice Knollys after she became a widow. Her hus- 
band died in 1576, his death also attributed to poison 
throufirh the a^'ents of Leicester. 



166 SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 

In July, 1575, Leicester gave to Elizabeth the won- 
derful entertainment which Sir Walter Scott has de- 
scribed in his novel '^Kenilworth." She with her ladies, 
forty earls, and seventy other principal lords were feted 
for eighteen days at this beautiful palace. It is said 
that the Queen had bestowed this year upon Leicester 
fifty thousand pounds, so that he felt obliged to make 
the reception sumptuous. 

As she and her royal train entered the gate, a poeti- 
cal porter made an address to her, calling her — 

'* A peerless pearl! 
No worldly wight, I doubt — some sovereign goddess, sural 
In face, in hand, in eye, in other features all, 
Yea, beauty, grace, and cheer — yea, port and majesty, 
Show all some heavenly peer with virtues all beset." 

When the Queen arrived on the bridge before the lake 
on one side of the castle a lady with two nyinphs came 
up to her on a movable illuminated island, bright with 
torches, and she also made a poetical address. On the 
great temporary bridge, twenty feet by seventy, in front 
of the castle, were seven pairs of pillars with mythologi- 
cal deities standing beside them, offering the Queen all 
the supposed '^good things'^ of the realm. On the tops 
of the first pillars were cages of live bitterns and cur- 
lews ; on the second, great silver bowls, full of apples, 
pears, cherries, and nuts ; the third, wheat and other 
grains ; the fourth, red and white grapes ; the fifth, sil- 
ver bowls of wine, and so on. A poet in radiant costume 
explained all this to the queen. 

All the clocks were stopped at the instant of her 
arrival, so that none should take note of time while the 
royal loved one remained. In the evening the fireworks 



SIB WALTER RALEIGH. 167 

were so profuse and grand that they were seen for 
twenty miles away. 

Each day the Queen hunted or witnessed fights 
between dogs and bears — '' bear-baiting," when the 
dogs were let loose upon thirteen bears in a court, 
where, says Laneham in his " Kenilworth,'' " there was 
plucking and tugging, scratching and biting, and such 
an expense of blood and leather between them as a 
month's licking, I ween, will not recover." 

Sunday mornings the Queen attended church, and in 
the afternoon witnessed theatrical plays, or pageants on 
the lake. Happily, times have changed under Victoria ! 
All this did not win a royal bride ; for Elizabeth said 
soon after to a person who pleaded for Leicester, " Shall 
I so far forget myself as to prefer a poor servant of my 
own making to the first princes in Christendom ? " 

Leicester did not like Ealeigh, because the Queen 
showed the latter much attention. She gave him con- 
trol over the wine trade — each vintner was obliged to 
pay him twenty shillings a year for a license to sell 
wines — whereby E>aleigh received two thousand pounds 
a year, equivalent to about twelve thousand pounds at 
the present time, says Mr. Gosse. She also gave him 
two estates and a grant to export woollen broadr 
cloths, from which his yearly income, Mr. Gosse 
thinks, was eighteen thousand pounds of Victorian 
money. In 1585 he was appointed lord warden of the 
stannaries, in which position he greatly lessened the 
hardships of the miners in the west of England. The 
same year he became lieutenant of the county of Corn- 
wall, and soon afterwards vice-admiral of the counties of 
Cornwall and Devon. In 1587 he became captain of the 
Queen's guard. 



168 SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 

Other ricli estates were now given to Raleigh. An- 
thony Babington, descended from, a family rich and 
noble since the time of Edward I., was accused and 
convicted — conviction in those days did not always 
mean proven guilty — of an attempt to put Elizabeth olf 
the throne. He was beheaded and his estates confis- 
cated. To Raleigh were given by the Queen three manors 
in Lincolnshire, together with lands and tenements at 
West Terrington and Harrick in the same county, the 
manor of Lee in Derbyshire, and several tenements ; lands 
and tenements at Kingston and at Thrumpton, in Notting- 
hamshire ; and his dwelling-house and land called Bab- 
ington's Hall. 

Raleigh al^o leased of the Queen, for his city resi- 
dence, Durham House, a vast fourteenth-century palace, 
where Elizabeth had lived while her brother, Edward VL, 
was alive. She reserved a few rooms for herself. 

Besides all this wealth, he was now busy with the 
work of a statesman, having been sent to Parliament as 
one of the two members from the county of Devonshire. 
During all these years he was so much occupied that 
he took only five hours each night for sleep, though 
he would steal four hours for reading. He was a poet, 
writing much that was considered admirable in that 
age. He was the intimate friend of Spenser, the author 
of the " Faerie Queene," and obtained for him the favor 
of Elizabeth. The latter granted Spenser three thousand 
acres in Cork, out of the Earl of Desmond^s estate, and 
a yearly pension of fifty pounds. He lost this estate in 
the rebellion under the Earl of Tyrone, and died poor. 

Raleigh was so besought to use his influence with 
the Queen for places of trust or power, that once, when 
he asked a favor, she replied, '^ When, Sir Walter, will 



SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 169 

you cease to be a beggar ? '' to which he, with quick wit 
and courtesy, replied, '' When your gracious Majesty 
ceases to be a benefactor.'' 

All this time, while Kaleigh was in favor with the 
Queen, and Leicester was jealous and revengeful in con- 
sequence, England was urging Elizabeth to marry, or to 
indicate who should be her successor, in case of her death. 
She usually answered the Commons in some non-commit- 
tal fashion, saying that she thought marriage " best for a 
private woman, but as a prince, she endeavored to bend 
her mind to it ; and as for the matter of the succession, 
she promised that they should have the benefit of her 
prayers!" 

At last, after much talk about her marriage with 
Charles IX. of France, and later, with his brother 
Henry, and then with a still younger brother, Alen^on, 
she seemed to be willing to wed the last one. His face 
was badly marked by the small-pox, but the French 
ambassador assured the Queen that, aside from this, 
^^he was a paragon above all the other princes in the 
world," and that a physician in London could cure any- 
body so pitted, and he would soon make Alengon '^beau- 
tiful and worthy of her favor." 

He was twenty-two years younger than the Queen, 
small in stature, and exceedingly plain in looks, — always 
a great objection to Elizabeth, who was a lover of beauty. 
However, he wrote ardent letters, and came in person to 
press his suit. Elizabeth called him her " poor frog," 
and had made " one little flower of gold, with a frog 
thereon, and therein mounseer, his phisnomye, and a 
little pearl pendant." These words were written in one 
of her wardrobe books. 

The Duke of Alen^on, now become Francis, Duke of 



170 SIR WALTER RALEIGH, 

Anjou, was elected sovereign of the Low Countries. She 
assisted him with one hundred thousand crowns, and 
sent a splendid escort, to join that from France, to 
accompany her boy-suitor to Antwerp. Raleigh was 
one of the leaders in this stately assemblage. He re- 
mained some time at Antwerp, and brought back mes- 
sages from William, Prince of Orange, to Elizabeth. 

The people of England were so incensed at this in- 
tended marriage, that the ladies of honor wept; the 
noble Sir Philip Sidney wrote her against her marriage 
" with a Frenchman and a papist, in whom the very com- 
mon people know this, that he is the son of the Jezebel 
of our age,^' — his mother was Catharine de' Medicis, — 
and a book was written against it. The Queen had the 
hands of both the author, John Stubbs, and the publisher 
cut off with a butcher's knife and mallet in the market- 
place at Westminster. Stubbs was then confined in the 
Tower, and, broken in health, he died in France soon 
afterwards. 

Still the Queen could not stand against the voice of 
her subjects, and refused the Duke, who flung the ring 
which she had given him to the ground^ exclaiming 
" that the women of England were as changeable and 
capricious as their own climate or the waves that en- 
circled their island.'^ After a troublous rule in the 
Low Countries, he fled to France and died at his Castle 
of Chateau Thierry, June 10, 1584. 

While Raleigh was aiding the Queen both in Parlia- 
ment and at Court, he was following in the footsteps of 
his brother. Sir Humphrey Gilbert, in his attempts 
to colonize the New World for England. He obtained 
from Elizabeth, in 1584, a grant to him and his heirs 
like that which had been given to Gilbert, '' to discover 



SIE WALTER RALEIGH. 171 

such remote heathen and barbarous lands, not actually 
possessed by any Christian prince, nor inhabited by 
Christian people, as to him or them shall seem good. . . . 
They shall enjoy forever all the soil of s^ch lands or 
towns in the same, with the rights and royalties, as well 
marine as other . . . with full power to dispose thereof 
in fee simple . . . reserving always to Us, for all service, 
duties, and demands, the fifth part of all the ore of gold 
and silver there obtained after such discovery.^' 

Ealeigh fitted out two ships, some say at his own ex- 
pense, to go to the New World and investigate the best 
locality for a colony. These ships, under the command 
of Captains Philip Amadas and Arthur Barlowe, sailed 
April 27, 1584. To the latter we are indebted for an 
account of the enterprise preserved in Hakluyt's " Voy- 
ages.'' To the compiler of these voyages, Richard Hak- 
luyt, both England and America owe a debt of gratitude. 
When at Westminster School, he visited his cousin, 
Richard Hakluyt, a scholar in cosmography and promoter 
of navigation. He then became so interested in such 
studies that while at Christ Church, Oxford, he read in 
seven languages all the discoveries he could find, and be- 
came so eminent that he was asked to give lectures on 
navigation. He resided five years in France, making the 
acquaintance of noted sea-officers and merchants. He 
collected and published, in 1589, his first volume of 
voyages, and in 1599 and 1600 the work enlarged 
to three volumes. These books have been a treasure- 
house for all later historians. 

The vessels reached the West Indies June 10, and, 
sailing south-easterly, by July 2 they " smelt so sweet and 
so strong a smell, as if we had been in the midst of some 
delicate garden abounding with all kinds of odoriferous 



172 SIB WALTEB BALEIGH. 

flowers, by which we were assured that the land could 
not be far distant.'^ They soon came to the coast, and 
sailed along it for one hundred and twenty miles before 
they could find any entrance or river. They entered the 
first one that appeared, and took possession of the land 
in the name of the Queen. 

They supposed that it was the continent, but soon 
learned that it was an island, about twenty miles long 
and six broad, called Eoanoke. The land was " so full 
of grapes, as the very beating and surge of the sea over- 
flowed them, of which we found such plenty, as well 
there as in all places else, both on the sand and on the 
green soil, on the hills as in the plains, as well on every 
little shrub as also climbing toward the tops of high 
cedars, that I think in all the world the like abundance 
is not to be found/' 

The woods w^ere full of deer, conies, and hare, '^ and 
the highest and reddest cedars in the world." They 
were three days on the island before they saw any 
natives, and then one small boat having three persons 
in it. One of the men came on board the ship, and re- 
ceived a shirt and hat, ate meat, and drank wine. As 
soon as he reached his own boat he began to fish, and 
in a half-hour it was '^ as deep as it could swim," which 
load he brought to the ship in return for their courtesy. 

The next day the King's brother, Granganimeo, came 
with forty or fifty men. The name of the King was 
Wingina, and the country Wingandacoa. Mr. William 
"Wirt Henry, in Winsor's '' Narrative and Critical His- 
tory of America," thinks that the natives did not under- 
stand when asked the name of the country, and that 
^' Win-gan-da-coa " means " You wear fine clothes ! " 

Granganimeo gave them cordial welcome, "striking on 



I 



SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 173 

his head and breast, and afterwards on ours, to show we 
were all one, smiling and making show the best he could 
of all love and familiarity.^' They gave the Indian 
gifts, and soon after traded for chamois and deer skins, 
he choosing in exchange for twenty skins a tin dish, 
which he immediately hung about his neck, after making 
a hole in the brim. 

Granganimeo soon brought his children to the boat 
with his wife. She is thus described : '' well-favored, of 
mean stature, and very bashful ; she had on her back a 
long cloak of leather, with the fur-side next to her body, 
and before her a piece of the same ; about her forehead, 
she had a band of white coral ; ... in her ears she had 
bracelets of pearls hanging down to her middle, and 
those were of the bigness of good peas.'' Whenever 
she came to the ship she was attended by forty or fifty 
women. 

The King's brother sent every day deer, fruits, melons, 
pease, walnuts, cucumbers, beans, and other gifts. Bar- 
lowe and seven others landed at Eoanoke, and the wife of 
Granganimeo gave them a cordial reception. He was 
not at the village at the time. She commanded her 
people to draw the white men's boat on shore, and told 
others to carry these men on their backs to the dry 
ground. '^ When we were come into the outward room, 
having five rooms in her house, she caused us to sit 
down by a great fire, and after took off our clothes and 
washed them, and dried them again ; some of the women 
plucked off our stockings and washed them, some washed 
our feet in warm water, and she herself took great pains 
to see all things ordered in the best manner she could, 
making great haste to dress some meat for us to eat." 

She gave them boiled and roasted venison, boiled and 



174 SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 

roasted fish, melons, and the juice of the grape. She 
begged them to tarry all night ; but, as they were few in 
number, they were afraid. She therefore gave them 
their supper to take in earthen pots into the boat, some 
mats to cover them from the rain, and sent thirty women 
besides several men to sit all night on the bank beside 
the boat. No wonder Barlowe wrote, ^^We found the 
people most gentle, loving, and faithful, void of all guile 
and treason, and such as live after the manner of the 
golden age.'^ 

Ealeigh laid before the Queen the report of this fertile 
country after the ships had returned in the autumn, and 
she, because it was discovered under a virgin queen, 
named it Virginia. She also knighted Ealeigh. Her 
gift of the control of the wine-selling of the country was 
that he might have funds to found an English colony in 
the new lands of the virgin queen. Elizabeth was very 
careful about bestowing titles, and during her reign, of 
about forty-four years, created but six earls and eight 
or nine barons. 

Early in the following year, 1585, Ealeigh sent out his 
first colony of one hundred and eight settlers in a fleet 
of seven ships, under command of Sir Eichard Grenville. 
After establishing the colony, it was to be left under 
Ealph Lane as governor. Mr. Doyle calls the latter "a 
well-born adventurer. . . . He had offered to raise an 
English contingent for the Spanish King against the 
Turks. Failing that, he had offered to serve the King of 
Eez against the Spaniard. If he might not serve under 
the banner of Eome or Islam, he was Avilling to fight 
for the Protestant faith under the Prince of Orange. . . . 
In scarcely a document does his name appear in which 
he is not an applicant for some office under the Crown. 



SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 175 

Afc one time he is an equerry at Court and a hanger-on 
to Leicester/' 

They set sail April 9, 1585^ and reached the coast of 
Florida June 20, anchoring for a time at Wococon, an 
island near Roanoke, and July 11 crossed over to the 
mainland. They explored the coast to Secotan, an 
Indian village some sixty miles south of Eoanoke, and 
were well received by the savages. On their way back 
a silver cup was stolen, and with needless severity to 
the offenders, the English ^^ burned and spoiled their 
corn and town, all the people being fled,'' It was self- 
evident that such a company would not long have peace 
with the Indians. 

A settlement was begun at the north-east corner of the 
island of Eoanoke. After a time the Indians and they 
were no longer friends. Granganimeo was dead, and his 
brother Wingina, now called Pemissapan, was an enemy. 
The English had no seed corn, and perhaps were too 
much like the Spaniards, unwilling to do hard work. 
"Because there were not to be found any English cities, 
nor such fair houses, nor at their own wish any of their 
accustomed dainty food, nor any soft beds of down or 
feathers, the country was to them miserable.'' 

Lane made explorations, when the spring came, to the 
north and south of the settlement. His men had a 
quarrel with the Chowanoks, and took prisoner their 
king, Menatonon, impotent in his limbs, but a " very 
grave and wise man." 

Learning from the Indians that there were pearls 
near the mouth of the river Moratoc (Roanoke), Lane 
determined to set sail up this river. Their food gave 
out, and they killed their two mastiffs, boiling the flesh 
of the do^i^s with sassafras leaves. 



176 SIB WALTER BALEIGH. 

Pemissapan had laid liis plans for the massacre of the 
settlement. He had reckoned upon the aid of Skico, the 
son of Menatonon, as Lane had once condemned Skico 
to death for attempting to escape, but he had afterwards 
been kind, and Skico was faithful to the whites, and 
divulged the plans of the red men. Pemissapan and his 
chief were in turn surprised by Lane. The latter on 
giving the watchword to his followers, Christ our victory, 
shot the Indians or cut off their heads. " Thus," says 
Lane, "i\\ej had, by the mercy of God for our deliver- 
ance, that which they had purposed for us.^^ 

On June 8 Sir Francis Drake and a fleet of twenty-three 
■ sail, returning with spoils from San Domingo and Cartha- 
gena, touched at the new settlement. Lane asked him 
to leave a ship and some boats with provisions, and to 
take home the sick to England. The Francis, a vessel 
of seventy tons, was sent to Lane, but a storm drove her 
out to sea, and she was seen no more. Drake offered to 
send the Bonner, of one hundred and seventy tons ; but 
the settlers, becoming discouraged, begged to be taken 
back to England. To this Drake consented. When the 
boats were taking the men out to the ships, the sea 
became so rough that most of their goods, drawings, 
T^ooks, and writings were necessarily thrown overboard. 
They reached Plymouth, England, July 27, 1586. 

Soon a vessel of a hundred tons sent by Ealeigh, 
well filled with supplies, arrived at Eoanoke, but finding 
the settlement deserted, returned to England. Three 
weeks later Grenville came with three ship-loads of food, 
and unwilling to lose control of the country, left fifteen 
men with supplies for two years. Lane's men in the 
ships of Drake brought back tobacco, which soon came 
into general use. The legend has been often told of 



SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 177 

Ealeigh smoking in liis study, when his servant came in 
with a pot of ale, and seeing Raleigh, as he supposed, 
on fire, from the smoke coming out of his mouth, threw 
the ale over him, and rushed down-stairs to the family 
exclaiming that " his master was on fire, and before 
they could get up would be burnt to ashes/^ 

Though the results of this second voyage and first 
attempt to plant a colony were discouraging, Ealeigh 
sent out a second colony in May, 1587, consisting of one 
hundred and fifty householders, under Captain John 
White. Twelve men besides White were incorporated 
as the " Governor and Assistants of the city of Ealeigh/' 
Seventeen of the company were women, of whom seven 
were unmarried. The fleet of three ships reached Hat- 
teras July 22, when White took forty of his best men 
ashore to search for the fifteen left by Sir Eichard Gren- 
ville the previous year. They found only the bones of 
one man. 

From the Indians they learned that the warriors of 
Pemissapan had determined to revenge his death. Two 
of their chief men asked that two white men should 
come to them unarmed, for a conference. They came, 
and one of the savages immediately struck one white 
man over the head with his wooden sword. The other 
fled to his company, and all the whites gathered into 
one house. This the Indians set fire to, and in the en- 
suing skirmish all the whites were killed, or fled, no 
one ever knew where. White and his men found also 
the fort which had been built by Lane razed to the 
ground, and the " nether rooms of the houses, and also 
the fort, overgrown with melons of divers sorts, and 
deer within them feeding on those melons.'' 

The houses of the little settlement on Eoanoke Island 



178 sin WALTER RALEIGIL 

were soon rebuilt. Aug. 18 a cliild was born to Eleanor, 
the daughter of Governor White, and Ananias Dare^ and 
being the first white child born in Virginia, she was 
called Virginia Dare. 

When his little granddaughter was nine days old, 
White returned to England to give a report of the col- 
ony and bring out supplies. This journey was much 
against his wishes, as he preferred that some other per- 
son should go, but they would not consent. His good- 
by proved a final one. 

He found England on his return preparing every ship 
to meet the threatened invasion of the Spanish Armada. 
Finally April 22, 1588, Sir Walter sent out two small 
pinnaces, the Brave and the Eoe, with provisions and 
fifteen planters. 

// These vessels," says Oldys, " minding more to make 
a gainful voyage than a safe one, ran in chase of prizes, 
till at last one of them was met with by a couple of 
strong men-of-war off Eochelle, about fifty leagues to 
the north-east of Madeira, where, after a bloody fight, 
the English were beaten, boarded, and rifled. ... In this 
maimed, ransacked, and ragged condition the said ship 
returned to England in a month's time ; and about three 
weeks after returned the other, having perhaps tasted of 
the same fare, at least, without performing the intended 
voyage, to the distress of the planters abroad and dis- 
pleasure of their patron at home." 

Eor a whole year no relief was sent, and when at last 
Governor White returned with three vessels the settle- 
ment had disappeared. Eemnants of their goods were 
found, and also the name " Croatoan," an island, carved 
on a big tree, five feet from the ground, according to an 
agreement before White's departure, that if they went 



SIB WALTEU IIALEIGII. 179 

away, they should indicate in what direction. The sor- 
rows of that lonely year were never revealed. Long after- 
wards it was told that a company of white people were 
kept in slavery by the Indians, and finally massacred at 
the instigation of Powhatan. Only seven — four men, 
two boys, and a young maid (perhaps Virginia Dare) — 
were preserved alive by a friendly chief. From these 
were descended the Hatteras Indians. They had gray 
eyes, found among no other tribes. 

Fourteen years later Kaleigh fitted out a ship at his 
own expense, and placed over the crew Samuel Mace of 
Weymouth, who had twice sailed to Virginia, to search 
for the lost colonists, but it was of no avail. Ealeigh 
gave up the attempt to colonize Virginia ; but he said, 
" I shall yet live to see it an English nation/^ and his 
prophecy was realized. He had spent forty thousand 
pounds on his American enterprises, and, though misfor- 
tunes darkened his own pathway, his perseverance and 
hope lightened the way for others. Better than any one 
of his time, he saw England's unlimited possibilities in 
the New World, and tried to grasp them for his country 
and his queen. 

England was now, 1588, absorbed in her preparations 
to meet what the Spaniards called their " Invincible 
Armada." Elizabeth believed that Philip II., the hus- 
band of her sister Mary, had never felt friendly since 
her refusal of him after her sister's death, thirty years 
before. Philip II. asserted his claim to the English 
throne through the Lancaster line. 

Among the bitterest opponents of Spain was Ealeigh. 
He was one of the nine commissioniers who met to 
consider the best means of repelling the threatened 
invasion. He went at once to Cornwall and Devon to 



180 SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 

gather men for tlie contest. He helped fortify the 
coast. 

On May 29, 1588, the Armada sailed out of Lisbon, 
with from one hundred and forty to one hundred and 
fifty ships, under the command of the Duke of Medina 
Sidonia, with over thirty thousand soldiers, between 
eight and nine thousand sailors, and over twenty-four 
hundred cannon. The fleet was destined for the coast 
of Flanders, where Alexander Farnese, Prince of Parma, 
was stationed with about thirty-five thousand men and 
boats. This force was to be landed on the Isle of 
Thanet, at the mouth of the Thames, under the protection 
of the Armada. 

Leicester was sent with twenty-three thousand men 
to Tilbury to oppose the landing of Parma. Another 
army of thirty-two thousand foot and two thousand 
horse was raised to defend the person of the -queen. So 
sure was Philip 11. of victory, that he '^ gave great 
charge to Duke Medina and to all his captains that 
they should in no wise harm tlie person of the Queen, 
and that the Duke should, as speedily as he might, 
take order for the conveyance of her person to Eome, 
to the purpose that his holiness, the pope, should dispose 
thereof in such sort as it should please him.'' 

Meantime Elizabeth, without fear, was visiting her 
camp at Tilbury, and making speeches to her soldiers. 
'' When she came upon the ground,'' says Miss Strickland, 
" she was mounted on a stately charger, with a marshal's 
truncheon in her hand, and, forbidding any of her retinue 
to follow her, presented herself to her assembled troops, 
who were drawn up to receive their stout-hearted liege 
lady on the hill, near Tilbury church. She was attended 
only by the Earl of Leicester and the Earl of Ormond, 



SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 181 

who bore the sword of state before her ; a page followed 
carrying her white plumed regal helmet. She wore a 
polished steel corslet on her breast.'^ 

Eiding bareheaded between the lines, she said, "My 
loving people, we have been persuaded by some that are 
careful of our safety to take heed how we commit our 
selves to armed multitudes for fear of treachery ; but, I 
do assure you, I do not desire to live to distrust my 
faithful and loving people. Let tyrants fear : I have 
always so behaved myself, that under God I have placed 
my chiefest strength and safeguard in the loyal hearts 
and good-will of my subjects ; and, therefore, I am come 
amongst you, as you see at this time, not for any recrea- 
tion and disport, but being resolved, in the midst and 
heat of the battle, to live or die amongst you all — to lay 
down for my God and for my kingdoms and for my 
people, my honor and my blood even in the dust. I 
know I have the body of a weak, feeble woman ; . . . 
rather than any dishonor should grow by me, I myself 
will take up arms — I myself will be your general, 
judge, and rewarder of every one of your virtues in the 
field.^^ They received her with acclamations of joy, and 
were ready to die for her, as they all knew her courage 
and ability. 

The Spanish Armada, in the form of a crescent, seven 
miles long, sailed up the channel. The English suffered 
all the ships to pass by, and then attacked them in the 
rear. Vessels of every kind had come from all parts of 
England, so that nobles, merchants, and all classes with 
any sort of ship at their command were gathered to save 
the flag. The English now had one hundred and eighty 
sail under Admiral Howard. 

At the suggestion of the Queen, it is said, Lord How- 



182 SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 

ard took eight of his least seaworthy ships, smeared 
their rigging with pitch, filled them with gunpowder, set 
them on fire, and in the darkness of midnight, Aug. 7, 
floated them out toward the Spanish fleet. 

The slaughter was dreadful. Some of the Spanish 
ships caught tire, and the explosions were deafening. A 
storm came up and drove many of the ships upon the 
French coast. The English followed swiftly, as their 
vessels were lighter and more easily handled than the 
Spanish galleons. Four thousand men were killed by 
the shot and shell in one day. 

Many Spanish ships fled towards the Norway coast, 
and the English followed till their ammunition gave 
out. On the Irish coast seventeen ships and more than 
five thousand men perished. Fierce storms did the rest 
of' the devastating work. As Ealeigh himself says, "A 
great part of them were crushed against the rocks ; and 
those others who landed were notwithstanding broken, 
slain, and taken, and so sent from village to village, 
coupled in halters to be shipped into England ; where 
her Majesty, of her princely and invincible disposition, 
disdaining to put them to death, and scorning either to 
retain or entertain them, they were all sent back again 
to their own country to witness and recount the worthy 
achievements of their invincible navyJ^ Only a little 
more than fifty of the ships reached Spain. " There was 
not a famous or worthy family in all Spain," says Hak- 
luyt, "which in this expedition lost not a son, a brother, 
or a kinsman ! " 

There was the greatest rejoicing all through England 
at the victory. In November her Majesty went in state 
to St. Paul's to a public thanksgiving for the result and 
to listen to a sermon from the words, " Thou didst blow 



I 



SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 183 

with thy winds and they were scattered/' She was 
seated in a triumphal car, like a throne, under a canopy 
supported by four pillars, drawn by milk-white horses. 
Close to her rode Eobert Devereux, Earl of Essex, Master 
of the Horse. (His widowed motlier had married Lei- 
cester, who had died Sept. 4, 1588, on his way to Ken- 
ilworth, angered at his queen because she had not 
made him Lord-Lieutenant of England and Ireland for 
his services against the Armada.) 

Thousands of people witnessed the great procession. 
When the people cried ^^God save your Majesty!'' she 
said, " God save you all, my good people ! Ye may well 
have a greater prince, but ye shall never have a more 
loving prince." 

Many medals were struck in commemoration of the 
victory. One was a fleet under full sail, with the 
words, '^ Venit, vidit, fugit " — '' It came, it saw, it fled." 
Another bore the device of fire ships scattering the 
Spanish fleet, and the words, " Dux foemAna facti " — 
^^It was done by a woman," in remembrance of the sug- 
gestion of Elizabeth, which proved so valuable. 

Ealeigh was praised and rewarded, not only for his 
brave fighting, but for his invaluable advice to Lord 
Howard not to grapple and board the Spanish ships as 
he was urged to do. He wrote later in his " History of 
the World," that the "Lord Charles Howard would have 
been lost in 1588 if he had not been better advised than 
a great many malignant fools were that found fault with 
liis demeanor. The Spaniards had an army aboard them, 
and he had none [none well drilled for service] ; they 
had more ships than he had, and of higher building and 
charging ; so that had he entangled himself with those 
great and powerful vessels, he had greatly endangered 



184 SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 

this kingdom of England. For twenty men upon the 
defence are equal to a hundred that board and enter." 

During the next few years after the destroying of the 
Armada, there were frequent captures of Spanish ships 
as prizes on the seas. Sir Walter fitted out several 
vessels which did great damage, enriched him, and made 
him hated more than ever by Spain. 

Leicester during life had never felt friendly to 
Ealeigh, and it is said had sent the young Essex, the 
son of his wife, to Court, with the hope of lessening 
the influence of Ealeigh with the Queen. He was a 
handsome, brilliant youth, but little past twenty, while 
the Queen ^vas much over fifty. He was extravagant, 
being already twenty-tliree thousand pounds in debt, im- 
pulsive, generous, and fearless. When brought to Court, 
at the age of eleven, the Queen offered to kiss him, 
which he refused. "When he was again at Court in offi- 
cial capacity, he seems quickly to have won her admira- 
tion, as some of the people about the Court said, " When 
she is abroad, nobody is near her but my Lord of Essex ; 
and at night, my Lord is at cards, or one game or 
another with her till the birds sing in the morning." 
He, too, was opposed to Ealeigh ; being disturbed at some 
supposed neglect by' the Queen to his sister, he wrote to 
a friend that it was done to him, '^ only to please that 
knave Ealeigh, for whose sake I saw she would both 
grieve me and my love, and disgrace me in the eyes of 
the world." 

Elizabeth would not hear him speak a word against 
Raleigh, although, he says, ^^ I spoke, what of grief and 
choler, as much against him as I could ; and I think he, 
standing at the door, might very well hear the worst that 
I spoke of himself. Li the end, I saw she was resolved 



SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 185 

to defend him, and to cross me. , . . I told her ^ I had 
no joy to be in any place, but was loath to be near about 
her, when I knew my affection so much thrown down, 
and such a wretch as Ealeigh highly esteemed by her.' 
. . . The queen, that hath tried all other ways, now will 
see whether she can, by these hard courses, drive me to 
be friends with Raleigh, which rather shall drive me 
to many other extremities,'' 

Both these men soon came under the royal displeas- 
ure. Essex had secretly married in 1591 Frances Wal- 
singham, the widow of Sir Philip Sidney, the soldier 
whom Essex had made his model, though the latter 
fell far short of the pattern. She was the only 
daughter of the celebrated statesman Sir Francis 
Walsingham, who had been one of Elizabeth's truest 
counsellors. The Queen on account of this marriage 
banished Essex from her presence for several months, 
and would not let him be Chancellor of Oxford, which 
so distressed him, and wounded his pride, that while 
away at war he wrote to a friend, ^^If I die in the 
assault, pity me not, for I should die with more pleas- 
ure than I live with ; if I escape, comfort me not, for 
the Queen's wrong and unkindness are too great." 

The next year, 1592, her other favorite, Raleigh, com- 
mitted a similar offence by a love affair with Elizabeth 
Throgmorton, a maid of honor, the daughter of Sir 
Nicholas Throgmorton, who had served Elizabeth with 
marked ability as her ambassador in France. He had 
been banished by Queen Mary, and nearly lost his life. 
When Elizabeth came to the throne he was a trusted but 
bold adviser. Having differed with Throgmorton, she 
became angry, and said, " Villain, I will have thy head ! " 
to which the statesman calmly replied, ^^ You will do well, 



186 SIE WALTER JIALEIGIL 

madam, to consider, in that case, how you will after- 
wards keep your own on your shoulders.'' 

Ealeigh and Elizabeth Throgmorton were at once 
imprisoned in the Tower, and were privately married, 
whether before or after this time is not known. For 
four years Raleigh was under the displeasure of the 
Queen. If she could not marry Ealeigh, a subject, she 
evidently wished nobody else to marry him. 

Oldys thus describes the picture of the woman who 
won Ealeigh's heart, and who kept it to the end of life, 
making a true wife and devoted mother to their two chil- 
dren, Walter and Carew. It was painted about eight 
years after their marriage. '^ It represents lier a fair, 
handsome woman^ turned perhaps of thirty. She has on 
a dark-colored hanging-sleeve robe, tufted on the arms ; 
and under it a close-bodiced gown of white satin, flow- 
ered with black, with close sleeves down to her wrist. 
She has a rich ruby in her ear, bedropped with large 
pearls ; a laced whisk rising above her shoulders ; a 
bosom uncovered, and a jewel hanging thereon, with 
a large chain of pearls round her neck, down to her 
waist.'' 

Ealeigh, with his heretofore active life, chafed at his 
imprisonment. Ambitious, successful, rich, and perhaps 
withal fond of the Queen, who had so honored him above 
almost all others in the realm, he constantly bewailed 
his fate, saying that his heart would break if he could 
not see his sovereign, '• whom I have followed so many 
years with so great love and desire in so many journeys." 

Before Ealeigh was sent to the Tower, early in 15.92, 
he planned an expedition to retaliate upon the Spaniards 
by seizing their rich carracks from India, and attacking 
their pearl treasuries at Panama. He and his associates 



SIB WALTER BALEIGH. 187 

furnished thirteen vessels at great expense, and the 
Queen added two ships of war. Sir Walter was made 
Admiral of the fleet. They were long delayed by storms, 
and the Queen, thinking herself unwise to spare so valu- 
able a man for such a dangerous enterprise, sent orders 
for him to resign and return and let Sir Martin Frobisher 
have his place. He, however, felt it impossible to turn 
back at first, as he had arranged the enterprise, but being 
badly damaged by a storm off Cape Finisterre, a part of 
the fleet went to the Azores to intercept the Spanish ships 
from India, and a-part to cruise near the coast of Spain. 
One of the largest "Indian Carracks,''.Madre de Dios, 
the " Mother of God,'' was taken by Ealeigh's ship. The 
Eoebuck. Her cargo was estimated to be worth five 
hundred thousand pounds, in carpets, silks, rubies, pearls, 
ivory, musk, spices, and other precious things from 
India. She was the most famous plate-ship of the times, 
and carried sixteen hundred tons. Philip II. had told 
his men to sink her rather than let her fall into the 
hands of the English. 

She was plundered at every port, and the sailors had 
helped themselves to treasures; but when she entered 
Dartmouth, Sept. 7, she had over one hundred and forty 
thousand pounds' worth of valuables on board. 

The officers and men were indignant when they reached 
England and found Ealeigh in the Tower. The feeling 
was so intense that he was released temporarily, and 
came with his keeper to Dartmouth to superintend the 
unloading of the prize. 

" His poor servants, to the number of one hundred and 
forty goodly men, and all the mariners," writes Sir Eobert 
Cecil, "came to him with such shouts and joy, as I never 
saw a man more troubled to quiet them in my life. But 



188 SIB WALTER EALETGH. 

his heart is broken ; for he is extremely pensive longer 
than he is busied, in which he can toil terribly, . . . When- 
soever he is saluted with congratulations for liberty, he 
doth answer ' No, I am still the Queen of England's poor 
captive.' '' When his half-brother, Sir John Gilbert, 
came to see him, Sir John wept. 

Raleigh received little or nothing in return for his 
great expenditure save the increased hatred of Spain. 
But being, in a measure, forgiven by the Queen, he re- 
tired to his beautiful estate of Sherborne, where for two 
years he set out trees, orchards, gardens, and groves, and 
enjoyed the quiet of home life with the woman he really 
loved. It is believed that he was the first to bring orange- 
trees into England and the first to plant the potato in 
Ireland, on his estates there. In 1594 their son Walter 
was born at Sherborne. 

By this time it was known that Spain was growing 
rich out of the colonies planted in the New World. The 
hopes of Columbus a century before were now having 
fulfilment. The Spaniards, as ever, in search of gold, 
believed there was a city or country in the northern part 
of South America in Guiana called " El Dorado," or the 
Golden City. Some of their travellers reported seeing 
an Indian chief, on a solemn occasion, anoint his body 
with turpentine, and then cover himself with gold-dust. 
Others reported that many of the natives, before their 
great feasts, covered themselves with white balsam, which 
they called Curcai, and powdered themselves with gold- 
dust till they looked like statues of gold. 

Francisco Lopez de Gomara wrote that in Manoa, the 
capital of the empire of Guiana, in the house of Inga, 
the Emperor, " all the vessels were of gold and silver, 
both on the table and in the kitchen ; that in his ward- 



SIR WALTER RALEIGH, 189 

robe were hollow statues of gold which seemed giants ; 
and the figures, in proportion and bigness, of all the 
beasts, birds, trees, and herbs that the earth brings fortli, 
and of all the fishes that the sea or waters of his king- 
dom breeds. Finally, there was nothing in his country 
whereof he had not the counterfeit in gold." 

Many parties of Spaniards had lost their lives in this 
search for gold. Gonzalo Pizarro, the brother of the 
conqueror of Peru, in 1640 set out with three hundred 
and forty Spaniards and about four thousand Indians 
from Quito. They journeyed two thousand five hundred 
miles, and finally returned disappointed. *^They had 
eaten their saddles on the road ; their horses were long 
dead ; their arms broken and rusted ; the skins of wild 
beasts hung loosely about their limbs ; their matted locks 
streamed down their shoulders ; their faces had been 
blackened by a tropical sun ; their bodies wasted by 
famine." 

Raleigh never feared hardship, but courted adventure. 
He, too, determined to find out if Guiana were really one 
great gold mine. In the year 1594 he sent out Captain 
Jacob Whiddon to explore the Orinoco River and its 
tributaries. He was hindered in his work by the Spanish 
Governor of Trinidad, Antonio de Berreo, and returned 
with little accomplished. 

The next year, Feb. 6, 1595, Raleigh set sail with five 
ships and one hundred officers and soldiers, besides the 
crews, to make the search for himself. He arrived 
March 22. Berreo had given orders that no Indian 
should go on board of Raleigh's ships under penalty of 
being hanged and quartered. However, the Spaniard 
had been so brutal in his treatment of the natives, that 
many came to Raleigh and begged his protection. The 



190 SIR WALTER RALEIGH, 

latter attacked and took the town of Saint Joseph, — 
Berreo he made a prisoner, — where he found bound to 
one chain, five Indian chiefs who had been cruelly tor- 
tured and were at the point of death. Berreo put broil- 
ing bacon on the bare limbs of his victims. 

Ealeigh left his ships in the Gulf of Paria and pro- 
ceeded in some small boats to explore Guiana. Berreo 
used all his blandishments to prevent him from going, 
as he had intended to go himself later. He told Ealeigh 
that he possessed already ten images of fine gold, which 
he was to send to the King of Spain. 

On this exploring tour Ealeigh and his men suffered 
much, as he said in his report, now reprinted in Hak- 
luyt's ^^ Voyages,'' " being all driven to lie in the rain and 
weather in the open air, in the burning sun, and upon 
the hard boards, and to dress our meat, and to carry all 
manner of furniture in them. Wherewith they were so 
pestered and unsavory, that what with victuals, being 
mostly fish, with the wet clothes of so many men thrust 
together, and the heat of the sun, I will undertake there 
was never a prison in England that could be found more 
unsavory and loathsome.'' 

They were absent from their ships a month, in and 
out of the various branches that formed the great Ori- 
noco, eleven hundred and twenty miles long, which 
receives four hundred and thirty-six rivers and two 
thousand smaller streams. They found the people, says 
Sir Walter, '^ goodly and very valiant, and have the most 
manly speech and most deliberate that ever I heard of 
what nation soever. In the summer they have houses 
on the ground, as in other places. In the winter they 
dwell upon the trees, where they build very artificial 
towns and villages," ^^ The river Orinoco rises thirty 



SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 191 

feet/' says Sir Walter, ^^and covers the islands through 
several months of the year." 

" The religion of the Epuremei is the same which the 
Ingas, emperors of Peru/' says Ealeigh, ^^used, which may 
be read in Cieca, and other Spanish stories : how they 
believe the immortality of the soul, worship the sun, and 
bury with them alive their best-beloved wives and treas- 
ure, as they likewise do in Pegu in the East Indies, and 
other places. 

" The Orono Koponi bury not their wives with them, 
but their jewels, hoping to enjoy them again. The Ar- 
wacas dry the bones of their lords, and their wives and 
friends drink them in powder. In the graves of the 
Peruvians the Spaniards found their greatest abundance 
of treasure ; the like also is to be found among these 
people in every province, . . . 

"Their wives never eat with their husbands, nor 
among the men, but serve their husbands at meals, and 
afterward feed by themselves." 

However, a woman of ability seems to have taken an 
important position among them, as she does in any land 
or time, as Ealeigh speaks of the wife of a chief, who 
'' did not stand in awe of her husband, but spoke and 
discoursed, and drank among the gentlemen and captains, 
and was very pleasant." 

Sometimes Ealeigh's company were stranded on the 
sand ; sometimes the high trees grew so close to the 
river banks as to make the air stifling, and they were 
nearly famished, before they could find birds " of all col- 
ors, — carnation, orange-tawny, purple, green, watchel, — 
and of all other sorts," which they used for food. They 
saw many alligators, and a young negro who belonged 
to the company, having leaped out to swim, was devoured 



192 SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 

before their eyes. Some canoes were captured full of 
breads the owners having disappeared in the woods^ and 
this food proved a great blessing. 

They saw hundreds of natives, men and women, and 
the English gained their good-will, as Sir Walter allowed 
no stealing, and the penalty for an insult to the wife or 
daughter of a savage was death. 

The Spaniards not only stole women, but traflicked in 
them, buying from the cannibals girls of twelve or fourteen 
for three or four hatchets apiece, and selling them 
in the West Indies for from fifty to a hundred crowns 
each. 

The Indians never forgot Ealeigh, and inquired tenderly 
about him long years after he was in his grave. 

A chief, Topiawari, one hundred years old, told Sir 
Walter much about the people, and gave his only son for 
a hostage to be sent to England, in proof of his friendli- 
ness and willingness to help them in the future, when 
they should come with more men to visit the great city of 
Manoa. Raleigh left in exchange for the Indian boy, Hugh 
Goodwin, who desired to learn the language. He could 
not have been devoured by a tiger, as some authorities 
say, as twenty -two years afterwards Ealeigh met him, 
and he had almost forgotten English. Francis Sparry 
volunteered to stay with the lad, Hugh, and returned 
to England in 1602. 

In Sparry's account of his adventures south of the Ori- 
noco, he records the purchase '' of eight young women, 
the eldest whereof was but eighteen years of age, for 
one red-hafted knife, which in England had cost me a 
halfpenny.'^ He could not have made such a transaction 
under Ealeigh. 

Ealeigh was charmed with the country : '' The deer 



SIR WALTEB RALEIGIL 193 

crossing in every path/' he says, " the birds towards the 
evening singing on every tree with a thousand several 
tunes, cranes and herons of white, crimson, and carna- 
tion, perching on the river's side, the air fresh with a 
gentle, easterly wind.'' 

But the hardships, on the whole, discouraged the men, 
and they were obliged to retrace their way to the ships, 
a severe storm nearly destroying them and their boats, 
without a sight of " El Dorado," which Ealeigh was sure 
existed, but which has never been found. 

On his return to England in the fall of 1595 he hoped 
to be received at Court for his exploration and glowing 
words about his Queen to the Indians, — he had "dilated 
at large," he says, " on her greatness, her justice, her 
charity to all oppressed nations, with as many of the 
rest of her beauties and her virtues as either I could 
express or they conceive," — and her praise in a volume 
soon published concerning this voyage, which was trans- 
lated into Latin, German, and French. It was a graceful, 
glowing narrative, and Mr. Gosse says: "As it was the 
first excellent piece of sustained travellers'' prose, so it 
remained long without a second in our literature." 

It is thought by some that Ealeigh, on his return, 
brought into England the pineapple, so called because it 
resembles the cones of the pine-tree, concerning which 
James I. said, " It was a fruit too delicious for a subject 
to taste of ! " 

Elizabeth, however, had not forgotten Ealeigh's love 
for Miss Throgmorton, and he was allowed to remain at 
Sherborne with no word of approval from her. Sir Wal- 
ter mourned, and knew "the like fortune was never 
offered to any Christian prince." It was evident tluat 
Elizabeth did not wish to be secondary even in the heart 



194 SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 

of a subject. She couldj in a measure, forgive Essex, a 
youth of twenty, for marrying, but not Sir Walter, a man 
of forty. 

The next year, 1596, E-aleigh sent Captain Laurence 
Keymis, who had been with him the previous year, to 
Guiana, and he explored the coast from the north of the 
Orinoco to the Amazon. Before the year was passed he 
sent another ship under Captain Leonard Berry, wishing 
to keep alive his intercourse with the Indians, and hoping 
to interest his Queen later. He attempted to send thir- 
teen vessels two years later, in 1598, under his half- 
brother, Sir John Gilbert, but the plan was for some 
reason defeated. 

England was again busy in chastising Spain. As Philip 
IL had made a vow ^^to avenge the destruction of the 
Armada on Elizabeth, if he were reduced to pawn the 
last candlestick on his domestic altar," it seemed best to 
cripple his power once for all. June 1, 1596, a fleet of 
ninety-three English vessels and twenty-four Dutch, with 
nearly sixteen thousand men, set sail for Cadiz to attack 
Spain on her own ground. Essex and Admiral Charles 
Howard commanded the ships, and Ealeigh and Lord 
Thomas Howard joined in the council of war. 

The Admiral and Essex determined to land the sol- 
diers and attack the town before they assaulted the 
Spanish fleet. When Ealeigh arrived Essex was disem- 
barking tlie men. There was a lieavy sea, and some of 
the boats sunk. Ealeigh at once came on board of 
Essex's ship, and in the presence of the officers protested 
against such a course as endangering the whole armies. 
He said, '^ The most part could not but perish in the sea 
ere they come to set foot on ground ; and if any arrived 
on shore, yet were they sure to have their boats cast on 



I 



SIR WALTER RALEIGFL 195 

their heads, and that twenty men in so desperate a 
descent would liave defeated them all." 

The Earl of Essex yielded to Raleigh, and begged him 
to convince the Admiral. E-aleigh at once went to him, 
and, gaining his consent, called out to Essex, Intramus, 
when the impulsive Essex cast his plumed hat into the 
sea for joy. The officers accepted Raleigh's plan of 
attack, and it was decided that he should lead with his 
ship, the War Sprite. 

At the break of day the English vessels swept into the 
harbor. Before them lay seventeen galleys, the fortress 
of St. Philip and other forts, besides six great galleons 
and ships, about fifty-seven in all. 

The fight lasted six hours, and was terrible. Two 
great Spanish ships, the St. Philip and St. Thomas, burned 
themselves rather than fall into the hands of the Eng- 
lish. "They tumbled into the sea," says Sir Walter 
" heaps of soldiers, so thick as if coals had been poured 
out of a sack in many parts at once, some drowned, and 
some sticking in the mud. . . . Many drowned them- 
selves ; many, half-burnt, leaped into the water, very 
many hanging by the ropes' ends by the ship's side under 
the water, even to the lip ; many swimming with griev- 
ous wounds stricken under water, and put out of their 
pain." 

Raleigh had an especial desire to be revenged on the 
St. Philip, which had helped cause the death of his cousin, 
Sir Richard Grenville, who was formerly engaged with 
Raleigh in the expeditions to Virginia. Grenville had 
gone to the Azores in a fleet in 1591 to help capture 
some Spanish ships. The English were surprised by the 
Spaniards, and the Revenge, the ship of Grenville, with 
one hundred men, sustained for fifteen hours the guns of 



196 SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 

fifteen ships, and repulsed them all, one of the most re- 
]narkable battles in English naval history. The St. Philip, 
the great Spanish galleon, did the most damage. The 
Revenge was cut down to the hull, her deck covered 
with shattered bodies. Grenville was moved against his 
will to a Spanish ship, and soon died, exclaiming in Span- 
ish, " Here die I, Eichard Grenville, with a joyful and 
quiet mind, having ended my life like a true soldier that 
has fought for his country, queen, religion, and honor." 

Ealeigh was so wounded in the leg during the sea-fight 
that he could not help attack the town, but as he could 
not bear to be left behind, he was carried into Cadiz on 
the shoulders of some of his men. 

Cadiz at this time was a large and handsome city, 
the chief See of tlie bishop, and had a fine college — 
Essex brought back the famous library of the Bishop of 
Algarve and gave it to Sir Thomas Bodley. It is now in 
the Bodleian Library at Oxford. The city soon surren- 
dered. The people had liberty to take with them what- 
ever goods or clothes they could carry, which permission, 
says Oldys, "produced a remarkable example in a beau- 
tiful young Spanish lady, who, leaving all that was 
precious and valuable, bore away her old and decrepit 
husband upon her back, whom before she had hidden 
from the danger of the enemy ; herein imitating the 
piety of the Bavarian women after the conquest of their 
country by the Emperor Conrad III.'^ 

The next morning Raleigh desired to follow the fleet 
of forty carracks, bound for the Indies, which lay in 
Puerto Real road, as they were said to be worth twelve 
millions. In the confusion no answer was returned. 
In the afternoon the merchants of Cadiz and Seville 
offered two millions if the fleet could be spared. Mean- 



SIB WALTER EALEIGII. 197 

time the Duke of Medina Sidonia set fire to the fleet, 
and all was destroyed. 

Many who had captured rich Spanish prisoners were 
given large ransoms. Kaleigh got nothing for liis brav- 
ery, except, as he says, '' a lame leg and a deformed. I 
have not wanted good words, . . . but I have possession 
of naught but poverty and pain.'^ 

The Queen did not take him back to Court till 
almost a year after the successful battle of Cadiz, from 
which Spain never rallied. 

It was soon learned that the King of Spain was to 
make one more effort to invade England and Ireland. 
In the spring of 1597 he fitted out a fleet, which the 
storms scattered as they did the Armada. 

Meantime Elizabeth resolved upon the so-called is- 
lands voyage, to intercept the Spanish plate-fleet at the 
Azores. She sent one hundred and twenty ships with six 
thousand soldiers. Essex was commander-in-chief, and 
Ealeigh rear-admiral. Fayal was to be taken by Essex 
and Raleigh, and other ports by various commanders. 
Essex sailed first, but Raleigh reached the harbor before 
the earl. The people at once began to leave the town, 
vfhile the fort opened fire, and six companies of men 
opposed the landing of the English. Raleigh waited 
two days for Essex to arrive, when his men became so 
impatient for the attack, that he promised to lead them 
the third day if Essex did not come. 

On the fourth day, with a party of two hundred and 
sixty men, Raleigh pushed his boats to the landing-place. 
This was guarded by a mighty ledge of rocks, some forty 
paces long into the sea, with a narrow lane between two 
walls. The men stood back dismayed when they saw 
the defile, and the shot poured upon them ; but Raleigh 



198 SIR WALTER RxiLElGH, 

rebuked them, as Oldys says, "Clambering over the 
rocks, and wading through the water, he made his way 
pellmell through all their fire, with shot, pike, and sword 
up to the narrow entrance, where he so resolutely pur- 
sued his assault, that the enemy, after a short resistance, 
gave ground ; and when they saw his forces press faster 
and thicker upon them, suddenly retiring, they cast 
away their weapons, and betook themselves to the hills 
and woods." 

Then Ealeigh led his forces into the town ; and when 
some of the new soldiers shrank from the contest, — two 
had their heads taken off by big shot, and many were 
wounded, — Ealeigh went to the very front, though he 
was " shot through the breeches and doublet-sleeves in 
two or three places." When they had jjassed the forts 
it was found that the inhabitants of the town. Villa 
Dorta, had fled, leaving such things as could not be 
removed suddenly. The town contained about five hun- 
dred stone houses and many choice gardens. Among 
those who fought bravely were Captain Laurence Key- 
mis, who had been with Ealeigh in the voyage to 
Guiana. 

The next morning Essex arrived, and was very angry 
because Ealeigh had not waited for him, and had already 
won all the glory. Peace was finally made between the 
two leaders, and the fleet returned to England with three 
good prizes, laden with cochineal and other merchandise, 
and some ships from Brazil. The King of Spain lost 
through this expedition eighteen ships, including two 
of his best galleons. Ealeigh returned to his place in 
Parliament, with his health much broken. He was soon 
made governor of Jersey, with the gift of the manor of 
St. Germain on that island. 



SIR WALTEU RALEIGIL 199 

For a year or more Raleigh and Essex had not been 
friends. The latter, impulsive, and with a temper not 
under control, had lost the favor of the Queen, who had 
always petted him like a spoiled child. She had made 
him general of her armies, when everybody knew he was 
too young and inexperienced. Whenever the Queen 
made appointments which did not suit him, he feigned 
illness, and would not appear at Court. 

In a council meeting when the, as usual, disturbed 
condition of Ireland was being discussed, the Earl of 
Essex was so strenuous in his desires, that the Queen, 
forgetting her womanly dignity, boxed him on the ear, 
saying, '' Go, and be hanged ! '' 

At once Essex grasped his sword-hilt, when the ad- 
miral, Charles Howard, stepped between them. The 
Earl declared ^^that he would not have taken that blow 
from King Henry, her father, and that it was an indig- 
nity that he neither could nor would endure from any 
one ! " He was forgiven later, and returned to Court. 

Essex had at one time saved the life of the Queen, 
by discovering the plot of her physician, Lopez, who was 
a Jew. Two confederates confessed that Lopez, through 
the Spanish court, was to poison the queen for fifty 
thousand crowns. Lopez died on the scaffold affirming 
" that he loved the Queen as well as he did Jesus Christ," 
an assertion ill-received by the people who knew his 
religious faith. 

In March, 1599, Essex was appointed Lord-Lieutenant 
of Ireland. His enemies were pleased to get him away 
from Court, so that they could have more influence with 
the Queen; but he seems to have found the position 
utterly distasteful, for he wrote Elizabeth : " From a 
mind delighting in sorrow; from spirits wasted with 



200 SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 

passion ; from a heart torn in pieces with care, gi'ief, 
and travail ; from a man that hateth himself, and all 
things else that keep him alive, — what service can your 
Majesty expect, since any service past deserves no more 
than banishment and proscription to the cursedest of 
islands.'' 

The Earl of Tyrone was in rebellion. Essex, with 
a desire to restore tranquillity to the distracted nation, 
had a conference with Tyrone, and sent his requests 
to her Majesty. She, surrounded by advisers who 
hated Essex, and Ireland as well, could not say bit- 
ter things enough about such a pacific attempt. Finally 
Essex determined to return and see the Queen in person. 

As soon as he had reached her at her palace at Non- 
such, in the early morning, he went directly to her apart- 
ments, (and knelt before her " covering her hands with 
kisses." ) She received him with some marks of favor, 
though she was still displeased, especially that he should 
have left Ireland without asking her leave. She ordered 
him to consider himself a prisoner in his apartment till 
his conduct should be investigated. Through such petty 
acts as this, England learned later that in the hands of 
no one man or woman can any great amount of power be 
trusted. Tyrants are easily made. 

Essex was removed in a day or two to the lord- 
keeper's charge at York-house, and the Queen went to 
Richmond. Lady Walsingham went and made humble 
suit that Essex might write to his wife (who was Frances 
Walsingham), as she had just given birth to an infant, 
but the stern Queen refused. So much in anger was she 
that she walked the floor, exclaiming, ^^I am no Queen — 
that man is above me ! Who gave him command to 
come here so soon ? I did send him on other busi- 



SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 201 

iiess ! '' Wlien he became ill, she would not permit his 
own physician to attend him ; and yet if she ever 
loved anybody, it was young Essex. 
On her birthday Essex wrote her : — 

Vouchsafe, dread Sovereign, to know there lives a man, though 
dead to the world and in himself exercised with continued tor- 
ments of body and mind, that doth more true honor to your thrice 
blessed day [anniversary of her accession to the throne] than all 
those that appear in your sight. ... 

For they that feel the comfortable influence of Your Majesty's 
favor, or stand in the bright beams of your presence, rejoice partly 
for Your Majesty's, but chiefly for their own happiness. Only 
miserable Essex, full of pain, full of sickness, full of sorrow, 
languishing in repentance for his offences past, hateful to himself 
that he is yet alive, and importunate on death, if your favor be 
irrevocable : he joys only for Your Majesty's great happiness and 
happy greatness ; and were the rest of his days never so many, 
and sure to be as happy as they are like to be miserable, he would 
lose them all to have this happy seventeenth day many and many 
times renewed, with glory to Your Majesty and comfort of all your 
faithful subjects, of whom none is accursed but 

Your Majesty's humblest vassal, 

Essex. 



The wife of Essex finally came to beg for him, and 
brought the queen a jewel; but it was returned, and the 
haughty monarch sent back word "that she must attend 
her Majesty's pleasure by the lords of the council, and 
come no more to Court.'' 

Essex had now become very ill, so that his life was 
despaired of. Some of the privy council urged the 
Queen to forgive him, while others urged his being sent 
to the Tower, or beheaded. Twice a warrant was made 
out for his removal to the Tower, but the Queen would 
not si^n it. She so far relented as to allow his wife to 



202 SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 

i 
come daily to see him^ and ordered her own physician 
to take him some broth with the message " that if it 
were not inconsistent with her honor, she would have 
come to visit him herself." 

The enemies of Essex were busy preparing pageants 
of all kinds J that Elizabeth might forget the earl, and 
that the people might also forget him, for he was popu- 
lar because of his bravery and generosity. The Queen 
outwardly seemed to enjoy them, but she was in private 
greatly dejected. 

At last Essex, after a partial return to health, was 
tried before the commissioners for a whole day. When 
accused of treason he protested, with his hand upon his 
heart, " This hand shall pull out this heart when any 
disloyal thought shall enter it." He was pardoned, but 
forbidden to appear at Court. Afterwards he wrote 
urging that the license from wines — about fifty thou- 
sand pounds yearly — be renewed to him as he was 
deeply in debt ; but this wish was not granted. 

Essex at last, humble and penitent though he had 
been, began to murmur at the Queen. She certainly had 
shown anything but a lovable nature to the man whom 
she had seemingly idolized. "The Queen," he said, 
" has pushed me down into private life. I will not be 
a vile, obsequious slave. The dagger of my enemies 
has struck me to the hilt. I w^ill not be bound to their 
car of triumph." 

It was reported to the Queen that he said she was an 
" old woman, crooked both in body and mind." His house 
became the centre of the disaffected. He wrote private 
letters to the King of the Scots, afterwards James I., 
to urge his being recognized as successor to the throne, 
a matter Elizabeth never wished to hear about. 



I 



SIB WALTER RALEIGH. 203 

Whether with or without reason, he believed that 
Ealeigh was a bitter enemy. He had written to the 
Queen when he was in Ireland, deprecating the fact that 
Lord Cobham, Ealeigh, and others " should have such 
credit and favor with Your Majesty when they wish the 
ill success of Your Majesty's most important action, 
the decay of your greatest strength, and the destruction 
of your faithfuUest servants." 

This, of course, was not true, however much he might 
have believed it, for Ealeigh was always loyal to his 
sovereign. If Ealeigh really thought it advisable that 
the earl should die, as would seem from a letter to Sir 
Eobert Cecil — 

(" If you take it for a good counsel to relent towards 
this tyrant, you will repent it when it shall be too late. 
. . . The less you make of him, the less he shall be able 
to harm you and yours ; and if her Majesty's favor fail 
him, he will again decline to a common person. Lose 
not your advantage ; if you do, I read your destiny.'') 
then Ealeigh experienced the Bible words literally: 
" With what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to 
you again." The letters of Essex to James I. embittered 
that monarch against Ealeigh, — he always thought that 
Cecil and Ealeigh helped to bring " my martyr Essex " 
to the grave, — and paved the way for his own sad fate. 

It had been planned at Essex House, the home of the 
earl, that a chosen few should go around to the palace 
of the Queen, seize the gate, rush into her presence, and 
on their knees beg her to remove the adversaries of 
Essex from her council. If she did not consent to this, 
Essex would call a parliament and demand justice. 

Feb. 7, 1601, Essex received a summons to appear be- 
fore the privy council, his actions having caused con- 



204 SIR WALTER RALEIGIL 

cerii. He was advised by his friends to make his escape, 
but he determined to appeal to the people, knowing how 
much they loved him. 

On Sunday morning, Feb. 8, Essex had three hundred 
followers at his house. That very morning Sir Ferdi- 
nando Gorges, a cousin of Ealeigh's, had been sent for 
by the latter to meet him at Durham House. Essex 
advised that they meet on the Thames. They did so, 
when Ealeigh urged Gorges to escape, as there was 
a warrant out for his arrest. Sir Christopher Blount, 
who had married the mother of Essex after her second 
husband, Leicester, was dead, shot at Ealeigh four times 
as he was going back to his boat to Durham House, with 
the desire either to kill or to capture him. 

About ten o'clock on this Sunday morning the lord 
chief-justice and a few others came to Essex House, and 
inquired why so many persons were gathered in the 
court. Essex then told his wrongs, and rushing out with 
his followers down Fleet Street, cried, '' England is sold 
to Spain by Cecil and Ealeigh ! Citizens of London, 
arm for England and the Queen ! '^ Waving his sword, 
he shouted, " For the Queen ! for the Queen ! '^ 

The people did not rise, as he had foolishly expected. 
The streets were soon barricaded, and he was declared a 
traitor. 

The Queen was at dinner when told that Essex was 
trying to arouse the city. Her attendants were greatly 
alarmed ; but she proposed going to oppose the insurgents, 
saying " that not one of them would dare to meet a sin- 
gle glance of her eye. They would flee at the very 
notice of her approach.'^ 

That night Essex and his men were arrested and 
lodged in Lambeth Palace, and the next day confined in 
the Tower. 



SIB WALTER RALEIGH. 205 

After an all-day trial Essex was condemned to death. 
He said, "• I am not a wliit dismayed to receive this doom. 
Death is welcome to me as life. Let my poor quarters, 
which have done her Majesty true service in divers 
parts of the world, be 'sacrificed and disposed of at her 
pleasure.'^ 

The story of the ring which Elizabeth gave to Essex 
with the promise ^^that if ever he forfeited her favor, if 
he sent it back to her, the sight of it would ensure her 
forgiveness,'^ has been disputed, though it was vouched 
for by the descendants of the Careys, closely related to 
the Queen. Lady Elizabeth Spelman, a relative, thus 
relates it : — 

" When Essex lay under sentence of death, he deter- 
mined to try the virtue of the ring by sending it to the 
Queen, and cLaiming the benefit of lier promise ; but 
knowing he was surrounded by the creatures of those 
who were bent on taking his life, he was fearful of trust- 
ing it to any of his attendants. At length, looking out 
of his window, he saw, early one morning, a boy whose 
countenance pleased him, and him he induced by a bribe 
to carry the ring, which he threw down to him from 
above, to the Lady Scroope, his cousin, who had taken 
so friendly interest in his fate. The boy, by mistake, 
carried it to the Countess of Nottingham, the cruel sister 
of the fair and gentle Scroope ; and as both were ladies 
of the royal bed-chamber, the mistake might easily occur. 
The countess carried the ring to her husband, the lord- 
admiral, who was the deadly foe of Essex, and told him 
the message, but he bade her suppress both.'' 

The Queen seems to have expected that Essex would 
send some message ; for it was long before she could be 
prevailed upon to sign the death-warrant, and even after 



206 SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 

she had done so she revoked it. Finally she ordered 
the execution to proceed. He was beheaded Feb. 25, 
1601. Elizabeth told the Duke de Biron, who came over 
at the head of a state embassy from France, " that not- 
withstanding Essex's engaging in open rebellion, he 
might still, by submission, have obtained her pardon, 
but that neither his friends nor relations could prevail 
on him to ask it.'' 

What must have been the horror of Elizabeth when, 
two years later, the dying Countess of Nottingham, 
according to Lady Spelman, told her the true story of 
the ring, and said she could not die in peace till she had 
craved the pardon of the Queen ! Elizabeth, in great 
anger as well as grief, shook, or some say struck, the 
dying woman in her bed, exclaiming, " God may forgive 
you, but I never can ! " 

After the death of Essex, the people ceased to welcome 
their Queen as rapturously as before, for he had been 
the popular idol. She herself became dejected after he 
was beheaded. She told the Count de Beaumont from 
France, '' that she was aweary of life," and wept as she 
talked of Essex. One of the Queen's household wrote, 
'' She sleepeth not so much by day as she used, neither 
taketh rest by night. Her delight is to sit in the dark, 
and sometimes with shedding tears, to bewail Essex." 

In the spring of 1603 the great Queen was near the 
end of life. When Robert Carey, the Earl of Monmouth, 
her kinsman, came to see her, during the visit he says, 
" She fetched not so few as forty or fifty great sighs. I 
was grieved at the first to see her in this plight ; for in 
all my lifetime before I never saw her fetch a sigh, but 
when the Queen of Scots was beheaded." Towards the 
end she said, " I wish not to live any longer, but desire 
to die." 



SIR WALTER RALEIGH, 207 

After a long prayer by the Archbishop of Canterbury 
at her bedside, she fell asleep and never woke, dying 
about three o'clock on the morning of March 24, 1603. 

With the death of Elizabeth, Ealeigh's power came to 
an end. As Captain of the Guard he had seen Essex 
die, and. at first stood near the scaffold hoping Essex 
would speak to him, but as he did not he had retired to 
the armory. Essex asked for him later, and Ealeigh 
always regretted that he was not near to receive his 
message of peace. Christopher Blount, who had at- 
tempted to kill Raleigh, on the scaffold asked his for- 
giveness, saying, ^^ Sir Walter Ealeigh, I thank God that 
you are present. I had an infinite desire to speak with 
you, to ask your forgiveness ere I died. Both for the 
wrong done you, and for my particular ill-intent to- 
wards you, I beseech you to forgive me ; " and Ealeigh 
answered, " I most willingly forgive you, and I beseech 
God to forgive you, and to give you his divine comfort.'' 

James I., the son of Mary Queen of Scots, now came 
to the throne. He had a difficult place to fill. The 
Eoman Catholics hoped for favors which they could 
never obtain under Elizabeth. The Protestants were 
guarding every point, lest the Catholics gain the ascend- 
ancy. James, self-conceited, fancied himself the peace- 
maker of Europe. He did intend to keep the peace, 
which was perhaps the best thing in his weak nature. 

Mr. Samuel Eawson Gardiner, the historian, gays of 
him : " James had too great confidence in his own 
powers, and too little sympathetic insight into the views 
of others, to make a successful ruler, and his inability 
to control those whom he trusted with blind confidence 
made his court a centre of corruption." 

Fontenay, a French writer, says : " He speaks, eats, 



208 SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 

dresses, and plays like a boor, and he is no better in the 
company of women. He is never still for a moment, 
but walks perpetually up and down the room, and his 
gait is sprawling and awkward ; his voice is loud, and 
his words sententious. He prefers hunting to all other 
amusements, and will be six hours together on horse- 
back. ... His body is feeble, yet he is not delicate ; 
in a word, he is an old young man. . . . He is prodi- 
giously conceited and he underrates other princes. . . . 
He told me that, whatever he seemed, he was aware of 
everything of consequence that was going on. He could 
afford to spend time hunting, for that when he attended 
to business, he could do more in an hour than others 
could do in a day." 

James was prejudiced against Ealeigh, partly through 
the unscrupulous Lord Henry Howard, the bitter enemy 
of Raleigh, and Essex before him, and partly because 
Sir Walter was an uncompromising foe to Spain, while 
James desired to make peace with Spain, even planning 
to marry his son to the daughter of Philip III. 

When lialeigh came to court to ask James to continue 
his commissions as Lieutenant of Cornwall and Warden 
of the Stannaries, the King received him coldly, making 
a coarse pun on his name, as he said, '' On my soul, man, 
I have heard but rawly of thee." He soon told his sec- 
retary, Sir Thomas Lake, to prepare some permits for 
Sir Walter, and added, '^ Let them be delivered speedily, 
that Ealeigh may be gone again." Ealeigh was soon 
deprived of his position as Captain of the Guard, and 
Durham House was restored to the Bishop of Durham. 
Ealeigh had spent two thousand pounds upon it. 

The next time he saw the King, Ealeigh talked with 
him about prosecuting the war with Spain, — offered to 



SIR WALTER RALEIGU. 209 

raise two thousand men at his own expense, and to 
invade Spain at their head. He could not have known 
that the King was always playing two parts, — trying 
to calm England, who liked the Scot none too well, and 
at the same time kneeling to Spain, whom most of the 
English hated. 

Ealeigh was still at Court, and on the morning of July 
17, 1603, was walking on the terrace at Windsor, waiting 
to ride with the King, who was about to hunt, when Sir 
Robert Cecil, who had made himself a favorite with 
James, came to Ealeigh, and said he was wanted in the 
Council Chamber, to be questioned concerning some 
matter. 

And this was the matter. The English Catholics had 
two agents, or pretended agents, two priests, William Wat- 
son and Francis Clarke, who were to labor with the King 
for increased toleration for their religion. While they 
petitioned the King on one hand, Cecil was on the other 
saying to James, "It would be a horror to my heart to 
imagine that they that are ene]nies to the gospel should 
be held by you worthy to be friends to your fortune.'^ To 
the English, James talked of "Jesuits, seminary priests, 
and that rabble ; " to the Pope, he spoke of concessions 
and great good-will. 

Such duplicity, or lack of courage, in time brought its 
natural reward. Thousands were angered. Finally a plot 
was arranged by Watson and Clarke, called " The Priests' 
Treason.'' Several joined with them : George Brooke, 
a graduate of King's College, Cambridge, the dissolute 
brother of Cecil's wife ; Sir Griffin Markham, of a prom- 
inent family but himself a spendthrift ; Lord Thomas 
Grey de Wilton, a young man under thirty, scholarly, a 
Protestant, and much beloved ; and Anthony Copley, third 



210 SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 

son of Sir Thomas Copley. He was a fearless man, as 
Topliffe wrote to Queen Elizabeth, ^^ The most desperate 
youth that liveth. Copley did shoot a gentleman the last 
summer, and killed an ox with a musket, and in Horsham 
Church drew his dagger at the parish priest." 

These men had planned that James I. should be seized 
at Oreenwich and carried to tlie Tower, where he should 
be asked for three things : " 1. For their pardon ; 2. For 
toleration of their religion ; 3. For assurance thereof to 
prefer Catholics to places of credit, as Watson to be 
Lord Keeper ; Grey, Earl Marshal ; Brooke, Lord Treas- 
urer ; and Markham, Secretary.'' The King was to be 
kept in the Tower a year, till the changes were accom- 
plished. Grey was opposed to Papists, but wanted the 
King to subscribe to " Articles '^ which would limit his 
power, and place the government more in the hands of 
the people. This plot was also called " The Surprising 
Treason.'' 

This plot was betrayed by John Gerard, a Jesuit, who 
believed that by submission to James all Catholic disa- 
bilities were soon to be removed without force. He had 
been a Catholic missionary to England, and had been 
imprisoned in the Tower for his ardent labors, but had 
escaped by swinging along a rope over the Tower ditch. 
He evidently did not understand James's character. 

Copley was arrested towards the end of June, 1603, 
and told of all the others, who were at once taken 
into custody. It soon came out that George Brooke, 
Grey, and others were in another plot, with Lord Cob- 
ham (Henry Brooke), the brother of George. He had 
married the widow of Henry, twelfth Earl of Kildare, 
and daughter of the Earl of Nottingham. It is said that, 
though wealthy, after Cobham's fall "she abandoned 



I 



SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 211 

him, and would not give him the crumbs that fell from 
her table." 

Lord Cobham was an enemy of Essex, and the latter 
had coupled his name with Ealeigh's when he wrote to win 
the favor of James before the death of Elizabeth. Cob- 
ham had no liking for James, and knew James's ill- 
feeling towards him. 

There was for a long time a desire on the part of many 
that Lady Arabella Stuart should come to the throne 
instead of James. She was his first cousin, the daughter 
of Charles Stuart, descended from Margaret, sister of 
Henry VIII. Charles's brother had married Mary, Queen 
of Scots. Arabella stood, therefore, in the same relation 
to the throne as did James. Elizabeth had feared her, 
and James feared her even more, because he was an 
alien, while she was born on English soil. 

At one time Cobham meditated seriously how Arabella 
could succeed Elizabeth ; but, after meeting her, he wrote 
to Cecil, " I resolved never to hazard my estate for her.'' 

She was shamefully treated by James : put in prison 
in 1609, on account of a rumor that she was to marry 
somebody, and James feared a possible heir to the throne. 
Feb. 2, 1610, she became engaged to William Seymour, 
descended from Mary, sister of Henry VIII. They 
were brought before the council, and promised not to 
marry without the consent of the King. Knowing that 
they would never receive this, they were privately mar- 
ried. Seymour was arrested and put into the Tower. 
Arabella escaped in man's clothing, but was taken and 
confined in the Tower also, where she remained for five 
years, till her death, Sept. 25, 1615. 

But if Cobham had given up the Arabella Stuart pro- 
ject, he had planned another with Charles, Count of 



212 SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 

Aremberg, Minister of the Archduke Albert, now sover- 
eign of the Spanish Low Countries. This was to help 
on the peace between Spain and England, by putting 
" good sums of money where they would have taken 
great hold/' as Lord Cecil, Secretary of State, wrote to 
Sir Thomas Parry, ambassador in France. 

Aremberg was to get five or six hundred thousand 
crowns from Spain and a large amount from France ; and 
this was to be used among the discontented, to buy their 
influence on the side of peace. He offered Ealeigh ten 
thousand crowns ; Grey was to have as much, and others 
in like proportion. 

However degrading such a plan, it was no uncommon 
thing in those times. We find Count de Beaumont 
writing to his King, Henry IV. of France, urging that he 
be allowed to give '' pensions " and gifts to English states- 
men. He writes to his King: ^^ The Spanish ambassa- 
dor makes no scruple to bargain for the treaty openly, 
offering pensions and money to the grandees of this king- 
dom for the purpose of promoting it." 

"The great extent," says Mr. Edwards, "to which 
Spanish bribes were accepted has long been one of the 
foulest scandals of a scandalous reign. Evidence of the 
corruption of some of the statesmen who took a promi- 
nent part in the prosecutions of 1603 is old and trite. 
Eecent researches in the archives at Simancas have estab- 
lished, beyond controversy, the fact that amongst those 
who lived and died as pensioners of Spain was the Lord 
Treasurer, Salisbury." 

That such methods are not entirely obsolete in the 
nineteenth century, it is only necessary to recall to mind 
the Credit Mobilier in America and the Panama Canal 
scheme in France. 



SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 213 

Ealeigh and Cobham were intimate friends, and Ealeigh 
knew of the visits between Aremberg and Cobham, though 
probably not the full plans. They were both arrested on 
a charge of treason, and accused of attempting to put 
Arabella Stuart on the throne, and to use the money in 
raising an army to do away with the "King and his 
cubbs " (which language George Brooke at first affirmed, 
but denied on the scaffold). It was asserted, but never 
proved, that Arabella was to write separate letters to the 
Archduke of Austria, the King of Spain, and the Duke 
of Savoy, promising if she obtained the crown to estab- 
lish a firm peace between England and Spain, tolerate 
the Eomanists, and be governed by the three powers in 
contracting marriage. 

The resulting trial was one of the most interesting 
ever held in England, as well as one of the most unfair. 
One of the judges, Gawdy, said afterwards, on his death- 
bed, "'The justice of England has never been so injured 
and degraded as by the condemnation of Sir Walter 
Ealeigh ; " and this has been the verdict of the great 
lawyers in the succeeding generations. 

Cobham denied that he had any such intent about 
jV rabella ; and she, in the great trial at Winchester, in 
Wolvesey Castle, the ancient Episcopal palace, protested 
through the Earl of Nottingham, "upon her salvation, 
that she never dealt in anv of these thin^^rs." 

When Ealeigh was at first called before the council, 
and was asked about Cobham, he cleared him of all, 
as he wrote Cobham by his faithful servant. Captain 
Keymis. He further said to the council, "Whatever 
correspondence there was between Cobham and Arem- 
berg, La Eenzi [a merchant who was in attendance on 
Count Aremberg] might be better able to give account of 



214 SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 

it, therefore advised to the calling upon him/' but added 
that ^^he knew of no intelligence between them, but 
such as might be warranted.'' This also he wrote to 
Cecil. 

When Cobham was examined he acknowledged that 
he desired to go to Spain to raise the money, but had no 
thought of Arabella Stuart. It was to be used as " pen- 
sions," which was probably true, though it was believed 
by some that he intended also to use it to help the 
"Priests' Treason," and so get the more liberal govern- 
ment which Lord Grey desired. 

When, for the purpose of entrapping him, the letter 
of Ealeigh was shown him, — altered, it is feared, to suit 
the purpose of his enemies, — he at once felt that he had 
been betrayed by Ealeigh, and accused the latter of in- 
stigating the plot, and of being the occasion of his whole 
discontent. 

When they were both in the Tower, Ealeigh wrote Cob- 
ham urging that he deny his unjust statement. Through 
the suggestion of the servant of Ealeigh, Cotterell, Cob- 
ham left his window ajar at night, and the letter of 
Ealeigh, tied round an apple, was thrown into Cobham's 
room. In half an hour the following letter of retraction 
was written and pushed by Cobham under his door and 
was carried to Ealeigh : — 

" Now that the arraignment draws near, not knowing 
which should be first, you or I, to clear my conscience, 
satisfy the world, and free myself from the cry of your 
blood, I protest upon my soul, and before God and his 
angels, I never had conference with you in any treason ; 
nor was ever moved by you to the things I heretofore 
accused you of. And, for anything I know, you are as 
innocent and as clear from any treasons against the King 



SIR WALTER RALEIGIL 215 

as any subject living. . . . And so God deal with me 
and have mercy on my soul as this is true." 

Again he accused Ealeigh and again he retracted. 

Ealeigh denied before his accusers, Nov. 17, 1603, 
every one of these indictments. ^^I was accused to 
be a practiser with Spain — I never knew that my 
Lord Cobham meant to go thither. I will ask no mercy 
at the King's hands, if he will affirm it. Secondly, I 
never knew of the practices with Arabella. Finally, 
I never knew of my Lord Cobham' s practice with Arem- 
berg, nor of their ' surprising treason.' " He knew of 
their visits to each other, and had already told them so. 
He also said, " Lord Cobham offered me ten thousand 
crowns of the money, for the furthering the peace 
between England and Spain ; and he said that I should 
have it within three days. I told him, ' When I see 
the money, I will make you an answer.' For I thouglit 
it one of his ordinary idle conceits, and therefore 
made no account of it." If Cobham and Aremberg 
had talked of money for an army, which is doubtful. 
Ealeigh evidently knew nothing of it. He asked to 
have Cobham brought face to face before him, but this 
was denied him. 

The Attorney-General, Sir Edward Coke, was brutal 
in his treatment. He said to Ealeigh, ^^Thou art a 
monster; thou hast an English face, but a Spanish 
heart. ... I will prove thee the rankest traitor in all 
England. . . . Thou hast a Spanish heart, and thyself 
art a spider of hell." 

The whole trial was a barbaric farce. Ealeigh pleaded 
eloquently, as it was for his life, but he was condemned 
before the trial. 

Lord Chief justice Popham, in giving sentence of 



216 SIE WALTER RALEIGH. 

death, was as brutal as Coke, and both were hissed by 
the people. 

The following was the sentence, brutality, or even 
capital punishment, doing as little good to society in 
those days as it ever has afterwards : " Since you have 
been found guilty of these horrible treasons, the judg- 
ment of this court is, that you shall be led from hence 
to the place whence you came, there to remain until the 
day of execution ; and from thence you shall be drawn 
upon a hurdle through the open streets to the place of 
execution, there to be hanged and cut down alive ; and 
your body shall be opened, your heart and bowels 
plucked out, and your private members cut off, and 
thrown into the fire before your eyes ; then your head 
to be stricken off from your body, and your body shall 
be divided into four quarters, to be disposed of at the 
King's pleasure ; and God have mercy upon your soul ! '^ 

It is said that some of the jury were so "touched 
in conscience as to demand of Ealeigh pardon on their 
knees." 

After the sentence, Ealeigh asked the Commissioners to 
request the King that "Cobham might die^ first," for he 
said, " Cobham is a false and cowardly accuser. He can 
face neither me nor death, without acknowledging his 
falsehood." He also asked that his death " be honorable 
and not ignominious." The two persons who brought the 
news of the sentence to James were Eoger Ashton and 
a Scotchman. " One," says Sir Dudley Carleton, after- 
wards Viscount Dorchester, " affirmed that never any 
man spoke so well in times past, nor would do in the 
world to come ; and the other said, that whereas when 
he saw him first, he was so led by the common hatred, 
that he would have gone a hundred miles to have seen 



SIR ]V ALTER RALEIGH. 217 

him hanged ; he would, ere he parted, have gone a thou- 
sand to have saved his life.'^ 

Nov. 29, Watson and Clarke, the priests, were exe- 
cuted. " They were bloodily handled,^^ says Carleton, 
^^ for they were both cut down alive ; and Clarke, to 
whom more favor was intended, had the worse luck ; for* 
he both strove to help himself, and spoke after he was 
cut down. They died boldly both. . . . Their quarters 
were set on Winchester gates, and their heads on the 
first tower of the castle.'\ George Brooke was beheaded 
Dec. 6, saying at the last, ^^ There is somewhat yet hid- 
den, which will one day appear for my justification.'^ 

Markham, Grey, and Cobham were to be beheaded Dec. 
10, and Raleigh, Dec. 13, as James could not bring him- 
self to destroy the man against whom nothing was 
proved till after Cobham had faced death. 

Raleigh had before this, about July 20, after the sen- 
tence, attempted to commit suicide, — not that he feared 
death, but he could not bear to have his enemies triumph 
over him. Just before he wrote his wife a touching 
letter : — 

'^ That I can live never to see thee and my child more ! 
— I cannot. . . . That I can live to think how you are 
both left a spoil to my enemies, and that my name shall 
be a dishonor to my child ! — I cannot. . . . For my- 
self, I am left of all men that have done good to many. 
All my good turns forgotten ; . . , all my services, haz- 
ards, and expenses for my country — plantings, discov- 
eries, fights, councils, and whatsoever else — malice hath 
now covered over. I am now made an enemy and traitor 
by the word of an unworthy man. . . . Woe, woe, woe 
be unto him by whose falsehood we are lost ! He hath 
separated us asunder. ?Ie hath slain my honor, my for- 



218 SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 

tune. He hath robbed thee of thy husband, thy child 
of his father, and me of you both. God ! thou dost 
know my wrongs ! . . . 

" I bless my poor child, and let him know his father 
was no traitor. Be bold of my innocence, for God, to 
whom I offer life and soul, knows it.^' 

He recovered from his wound \ and when the time 
for execution came, in December, again he wrote her in 
the Tower a farewell letter : — 

" My love I send you that you may keep it when I am 
dead, and my council, that you may remember it when 
I am no more. . . . And seeing it is not the will of 
God that ever I shall see you in tliis life, bear my de- 
struction gently and with a heart like yourself. 

"First, I send you all the thanks my heart can con- 
ceive, or my pen express, for your many troubles and 
cares taken for me [she had pleaded day and night for 
his release] which, though they had not taken effect as 
you wished, yet my debt is to you nevertheless ; but 
pay it I never shall in this wbrld. 

" Secondly, I beseech you, for the love you bear me 
living, that you do not hide yourself many days, but by 
your travel seek to help your miserable fortunes, and 
the right of your poor child. Your mourning cannot 
avail me that am but dust. . . . 

" Eemember your poor child for his father's sake, that 
comforted you and loved you in his happiest times. 
Get those letters (if it be possible) which I wrote to 
the lords, wherein I sued for my life ; but God knoweth 
that it was for you and yours that I desired it, but it is 
true that I disdain myself for begging it. And know it, 
dear wife, that your son is the child of a true man. . . . 

" I cannot write much. God knows how hardly I stole 



SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 219 

this time, when all sleep. . . . My true wife, farewell. 
Bless my poor boy ; pray for me. My true God hold 
you both in His arms. 

" Written with the dying hand of sometime thy hus- 
band, but now (alas !) overthrown. 

^^ Yours that was, but now not my own, 

"W. Raleigh." 

The time drew near for execution. Sir Griffin Mark- 
ham was first brought to the scaffold about ten o'clock 
on the morning of Dec. 10. A napkin was offered him 
to cover his face, but he refused, saying, ^^I can look 
upon death without blushing." Just as he had made 
himself ready for the axe, James sent his page, John 
Gibb, with a reprieve for two hours. He was led away 
in am.azement, and Lord Grey was brought to the scaffold. 

Grey knelt and prayed in the rain, and then said he 
had never plotted treason. He urged the King not to 
let the brand of traitor rest on his name for the sake of 
the '' unstained blood which we have spilled at the head 
of your ancestors' armies, and for that loyalty of four 
hundred years, during which the House of Wilton was 
untouched." A reprieve also came for him at the last 
moment. 

Lord Cobham came next ; and though he had shown 
fear and trembling at the trial, he was prepared to meet 
death calmly. He again accused Raleigh. The sheriff 
now stayed the execution, and called back Markham and 
Grey, and told them that the King had decided to spare 
their lives. The people shouted their applause, and the 
prisoners were removed to the Tower. Raleigh, too, went 
back to prison. 

Lord Grey died in the Tower, July 9, 1614, just as 
he was entering the twelfth year of his imprisonment. 



220 SIR WALTER RALETGH, 

Lord Cobham died poor and miserable, Jan. 24, 1619. 
He had been released from the Tower for a short time 
on account of his health, and died of paralysis after a 
year's helplessness. Markham was released and went to 
Brussels, where he was so poor that " he was constrained 
to pluck out the inlaid silver of the hilts of his sword to 
buy flour to make a hasty-pudding for his dinner,'' says 
Oldys in his notes. He afterwards found service under 
the Archduke Albert. 

For more than twelve long years Raleigh lived in the 
Tower, and found happiness as best he could in books. 
For a man with his active life the confinement must 
have been well-nigh unbearable. At first he gave much 
time to the study of chemistry and experiments in that 
science. He then began his great and learned ^^ His- 
tory of the World.'' He was confined in what is now the 
Bloody Tower, above the principal gate to the Inner 
Ward. For a time Lady Ealeigh and her son Walter 
were permitted to remain in the Tower, but when the 
plague broke out in 1604 they were obliged to go away 
for safety. 

Lord Cecil tried in vain to keep some of Sir Walter's 
property from confiscation. There were a dozen persons 
who eagerly tried to get possession of the beautiful 
Sherborne estates. Lady Ealeigh went to court in 1608, 
holding her boys by the hand — Walter then fourteen, and 
little Carew, four, born in the Tower after his father was 
in prison, — and on her knees begged Sherborne for her 
children ; but James brusquely replied, ^^I maun hae the 
lond ; I maun hae it for Carr," who was a young favor- 
ite of the King, becoming afterwards Earl of Somerset. 

The King finally purchased Sherborne for his son, 
Prince Henry. Lady Ealeigh was promised eight thou- 



SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 221 

sand pounds for her life interest in Sherborne ; but the 
interest was irregularly paid, and later the principal was 
mostly lost in the expedition to Guiana. She had an 
annuity of four hundred pounds a year, which was fre- 
quently unpaid. 

Ealeigh's health failed, and various efforts were made 
for his release, but none succeeded. Finally there was a 
rift in the cloud. Prince Henry, the broad-minded son 
of a narrow-minded father, partly through pity and 
partly from his appreciation of a fine intellect, had be- 
come fond of the imprisoned statesman. He was, in 
1610, sixteen years old, while Ealeigh was fifty-eight. 
He often visited Raleigh, and conferred with him about 
politics, ship-building, and foreign policy. He consulted 
him about his marriage with a Princess of Savoy, and 
would not consent to it because Ealeigh thought it 
unwise, as " the Dukes of Savoy were of the blood of 
Spain, and to Spain those dukes have always been ser- 
vants,^' said Ealeigh. It was generally believed that 
Prince Henry had received the Sherborne estates only 
that he might bestow them upon his friend. He said, 
" No man but my father would keep such a bird in a cage." 
At the coming Christmas, 1612, the prince had obtained 
with great difficulty from his father a promise of libera- 
tion for Ealeigh. But six weeks before this, to the dis- 
may and sadness of the whole of England, Nov. 6, the 
noble youth died of typhoid-fever, at the age of eighteen. 
James I. gladly forgot his promise to his dead boy, and 
the prison doors closed forever on Sir Walter Ealeigh. 
No, they opened once more, but the path led to the block. 

All these years the conditions of Ealeigh 's prison life 
grew harder. His garden was taken away from him, 
where he had enjoyed the study of botany, his wife was 



222 SIB WALEB BALEIGH. 

seldom allowed to see him, and his health yearly grew 
poorer. Often he was for two hours, he wrote Cecil, 
now become Earl of Salisbury, '' without feeling or motion 
of my hand and whole arm,'^ and, " every second or 
third night in danger either of sudden death, or of the 
loss of my limbs or sense ; " but Salisbury was no longer 
a friend, and James I. was only hoping "that man 
Raleigh will die before I do/' The wife of James, Anne 
of Denmark, was always the friend of Raleigh, and tried 
to obtain his release ; but she had no influence with 
James, partly because she had become a Romanist, and 
partly because he became tired of any affection after a 
time. 

It is thought that Raleigh began the "History of 
the World '^ in 1607, and seven years after, in 1614, he 
gave the first volume of 1,354 closely printed pages to 
the public. This brought the world's history only down 
to the conquest of Macedon by Rome. It was a marvel 
of diligence, showing that Raleigh could " toil terribly,'' 
and would have filled, says Mr. Gosse, " thirty -five such 
volumes as are devised for an ordinary modern novel." 

The next year, 1615, James commanded the suppres- 
sion of the book, because it was " too saucy in censuring 
the acts of kings." Ninias, son of Queen Semiramis, 
who " had changed nature and condition with his mother, 
proved no less feminine than she was masculine ; " and 
James read between the lines, as he thought, or probably 
some jealous person thought for him, that this was a 
true picture of James I. and his mother, Mary, Queen of 
Scots. 

Raleigh then wrote " The Prerogative of Parliament," 
an argument in favor of the King against his evil advis- 
ers ; but anything from Raleigh's hand was unwelcome, 



SIR WALEB RALEIGH, 223 

and he was forbidden to publish it. Ten years after his 
death it appeared. His " Observations on Trade and 
Commerce," in favor of free trade, was suppressed 
because James was a protectionist. 

One can scarcely imagine the wearisomeness of the 
years that saw manuscript after manuscript piled up, from 
a fertile and brilliant mind, with no power to bring 
them before a world which it strove to influence. 

One of the best known of Sir Walter's several works 
is his " Instructions to his Son and to Posterity.'' The 
first edition which Oldys saw was published fourteen 
years after Ealeigh's death, 1632. It went through sev- 
eral editions. In the chapter on ^^ Choice of Friends," 
he says : '^ If thy friends be of better quality than thy- 
self, thou mayst be sure of two things : the first, that 
they will be more careful to keep thy counsel, because 
they have more to lose than thou hast ; the second, they 
will esteem thee for thyself, and not for that which thou 
dost possess. But if thou be subject to any great van- 
ity or ill (from which I hope God will bless thee), then 
therein trust no man ; for every man's folly ought to be 
his greatest secret. . . . 

" The next and greatest care ought to be in the choice 
of a wife. And the only danger therein is beauty, by 
which all men in all ages, wise and foolish, have been 
betrayed. ... If thou marry for beauty, thou bindest 
thyself all thy life for that which perchance will never 
last nor please thee one year ; and when tliou hast it, it 
will be to thee of no price at all." Raleigh thought the 
best time for his son to marry was " toward thirty. And 
though thou canst not forbear to love, yet forbear to 
link ; after awhile thou shalt find an alteration in thy- 
self, and see another far more pleasing than the first, 



224 SIR WALTER RALEIGH, 

second, or third love.'^ About talking, Sir Walter says : 
^^ He that cannot refrain from mucli speaking is like a 
city without walls, and less pains in the world a man 
cannot take than to hold his tongue ; therefore if thou 
observest this rule in all assemblies, thou shalt seldom 
err. Restrain thy choler, hearken much, and speak lit- 
tle ; for the tongue is the instrument of the greatest 
good and greatest evil that is done in the world. . . . 
Never spend anything before thou have it : for borrow- 
ing is the canker and death of every man's estate." Con- 
cerning wine-drinking, Sir Walter admonishes his son : 
" Take especial care that thou delight not in wine, for 
there never was any man that came to honor or prefer- 
ment that loved it ; for it transformeth a man into a 
beast, decayeth health, poisoneth the breath, destroyeth 
natural heat, bringeth a man's stomach to an artificial heat^ 
deformeth the face, rotteth the teeth, and, to conclude, 
maketh a man contemptible, soon old, and despised of 
all wdse and worthy men, hated in thy servants, in thy- 
self and companions; for it is a bewitching and infec- 
tious vice. . . . 

'' Whosoever loveth wine shall not be trusted of any 
man, for he cannot keep a secret. Wine maketh man 
not only a beast, but a madman ; and if thou love it, thy 
own wife, thy children, and thy friends will despise 
thee.'' 

Men in James's cabinet had died and others had taken 
their places. Ealeigh had never lost sight of Guiana, 
its gold mines yet to be found, and its shores to be col- 
onized for his beloved England. 

At last he got the ear of Sir George Villiers, Duke of 
Buckingham, the favorite at that time, and Secretary Sir 
Ealph Winwood. Mr. Edwards says Raleigli gave two 



SIE WALT Ell EALEIGIL 225 

individuals fifteen hundred pounds^ — seven hundred 
and fifty apiece, — a large sum in our money, — to in- 
fluence the proper persons ; besides he promised much 
gold from Guiana, if he were only permitted to go there 
and obtain it. 

James could never say " no '' to the favorites then in 
pov^er ; so that Ealeigh, at their solicitations, was finally 
released Jan. 30, 1616, — he had been in the Tower for 
almost thirteen years, — that he might, under a keeper, 
live in his own house, and prepare for a new expedition 
to Guiana. 

For fourteen months, though much broken in health, 
he was busy with his pet scheme. His all was staked 
upon it. Lady Raleigh sold some land which she owned 
and gave her husband twenty-five hundred pounds. 
The eight thousand pounds from the Sherborne estate 
were called in. Five thousand pounds were borrowed, 
and Raleigh's friends furnished fifteen thousand more. 

He built one large ship and called it the Destiny — *■ a 
fitting name. He collected other vessels and furnished 
them with ordnance. Meantime Spain, which knew 
Raleigh's hatred, was closely watching the expedition. 
The Spanish ambassador, Gondomar, had James well 
under his thumb. He flattered him, and wrote him in 
gratitude, 'Hhat a Spaniard should have been and should 
still be a couricillor, not merely in your Majesty^s Privy 
Council, hut in your private Closet it self , doth not only 
exceed all possible merit of mine, but also exceeds 
all the services that I can possibly have been able to 
render to your Majesty." Meantime he wrote to his 
friends how inordinately vain and egotistical was the 
king of England ! 

Gondomar hated Raleigh. He feared that Raleii;h 



226 SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 

would capture a plate-fleet if opportunity offered, and he 
was utterly opposed to his visiting Guiana at all, as the 
Spaniards were already there. He finally persuaded 
James to give him a jjledge that no harm should be 
done to the Spaniards in Guiana, or Raleigh's life shouhl 
pay the penalty. James allowed Gondomar to forward 
to Madrid the proposed route of the Destiny and other 
private matters. 

James must have known that in all human probability 
the Spaniards would meet and contest the claim of the 
English to even land in the country, saying notliing of 
taking away their gold; but he loved money so well that 
a gold mine would have enabled him to be very inde- 
pendent with "our dear brother the King of Spain," as 
he called him. That Raleigh did not return with gold 
probably sealed his fate. 

James at the same time kept his friendship with liis 
"dear brother," as Raleigh says, by sending word to 
him "the very river by which I was to enter, to name 
my ships, number, men, and my artillery ; " and Philip 
III. at once wrote letters to all parts of the Indies 
and to Guiana, to prepare for Raleigh. Duplicity could 
not go much farther than it went in James I. But he 
had a marriage in mind of his son Charles with the 
infanta of Spain : " You must demand with her," said 
James to his agents, " two million crowns, and you are 
not to descend lower than so many crowns as may make 
the sum of five hundred thousand pounds besides the 
jewels." The marriage was broken off by Spain, and 
Charles married Henrietta Maria, daughter of Henry IV. 
of France. 

The fleet of seven vessels sailed for Guiana at the 
beginning of April, 1617 ; young Walter Raleigh, the son 



SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 227 

of Sir Walter, going as captain of the Destiny. Other 
sliips were added at Plymouth. Storms very soon scat- 
tered the vessels. One was lost, and several were forced 
to take refuge in Falmouth harbor for a time. Later on 
in the journey a sickness, like a plague, broke out, and 
many of tlie officers, as well as sailors, died. Ealeigh 
himself came very near death from a fever. On Nov. 
14 the fleet anchored at the mouth of the Cayenne River 
on the eastern coast of South America. 

The Indians remembered Ealeigh's visit twenty years 
before. He wrote Lady Raleigh, Nov. 14 : — 

" Sweet Heart, — I can yet write unto you with but 
a weak hand. . . . To tell you that I might be here 
king of the Indians were a vanity ; but my name hath 
still lived among them. Here they feed me with fresh 
meat and all that the country yields : all offer to obey 
me. Cojnmend me to poor Carew, my son." 

Raleigh's own health preventing his going in person, 
he sent Captain Keymis, with live hundred men in five 
smaller ships, up the Orinoco River to search for the 
mine. They were given instructions to do their best 
to reach the mine without conflict with the Spaniards. 
"When they returned they would find him dead or 
alive. If you find not my ships, you shall find their 
ashes. For I will fire, with the galleons, if it come to 
extremity ; but run will I never.'' 

The ascent of the Orinoco took twenty-three days. 
Despatches from Madrid, through Gondomar, had already 
been sent concerning their coming. The Spaniards fired 
first upon them as they attempted to land on the bank 
of the river, some distance from the supposed mine. 
The English returned the fire ; and young Raleigh, only 
twenty-three, was killed at the head of his men. 



228 SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 

Wounded by a musket-shot, he pressed on, bleeding 
and using his sword, when he was felled to the ground 
by the but-end of a musket in the hands of a Spaniard. 
His last words were : " Go on ! May the Lord have 
mercy upon me, and prosper your enterprise ! '' 

The Spaniards were driven back into their town of 
San Thome, built about twenty miles from its site 
twenty years before, when Ealeigh took Berrio, the 
S-panish governor, prisoner. The Spaniards were de- 
feated, and several houses were burned. Young Ealeigh 
was buried in the little church of San Thome, far away 
from home and friends. 

Young Ealeigh was a brave youth, the idol of both 
parents. He had been made to suffer for his father's 
downfall. He was engaged to an lieir of Sir Eobert 
Basset, descended from King Edward IV. This girl 
was a ward of Ealeigh, who managed her estate of 
three thousand pounds a year — about fifteen thousand 
of our money. After Sir Walter's disgrace she was 
taken away from the son and married Henry Howard, 
the son of Lord Treasurer Suffolk. He died suddenly 
at table, and she afterwards married William Cavendish. 
Duke of Newcastle. '^ He would never have wedded 
her," says an old writer, " if young Walter Ealeigh had 
been alive, conceiving her, before God, to be his wife, 
For they were married as much as children could be." 

Captain Keymis then pushed on towards the mine, 
but the Spaniards fired upon him from the woods, 
several men were killed, and, his force becoming dis- 
heartened, with the young Ealeigh dead and the admiral 
Sir Walter, likely to die, Keymis gave up the search for 
the mine, and reluctantly returned to the ships. 

The meeting between Ealeigh and Keymis, with the 



SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 229 

news of the death of his son, was a sad one. Raleigh 
wrote his wife: ^^God knows I never knew what sorrow 
meant till now. ... I shall sorrow the less because I 
have not long to sorrow, because not long to live." 

When Keymis told the story of the failure to reach 
the mine, Sir Walter, in bitterness of soul, replied, 
"that Keymis had undone him, and that his credit was 
lost forever/' Sir Walter knew only too well that gold 
alone would satisf}^ King James. 

Ealeigh blamed the captain so much that the latter 
was greatly cast down. Afterwards he came to Ealeigh, 
saying that he had written an excuse to the Earl of 
Arundel, and begged Ealeigh to allow" of his apology. 
The latter refused, whereupon Keymis replied, " I know 
not, then, sir, what course to take," and went to his 
cabin, where he at once killed himself by a pistol and 
a knife. 

Ealeigh now determined to go in search of the mine 
himself, but his men mutinied and refused to go. On 
the journey homeward they were scattered again by 
severe storms. 

When the Destiny, Sir Walter's ship, arrived in Plym- 
outh, Lady Ealeigh hastened to meet her heart-broken 
husband. They started towards London ; and when they 
had gone about twenty miles they were met by Sir 
Lewis Stukeley, a kinsman of Sir Walter's, who de- 
clared that he had come to arrest him and his ships, 
and they all returned to Plymouth. Captain King, a 
faithful servant of Ealeigh, begged him to escape to 
Paris, and, overpersuaded, a bark was engaged and 
Ealeigh entered it, but when a little way out he deter- 
mined to return and take the consequences. 

Meantime Gondomar, hearing of the San Thome affair, 



230 SIR WALTER RALEIGH, 

hastened to the King, but was told that he was engaged. 
He sent a message that he might be allowed only one 
word, and, permission being granted, rushed into the 
Audience Chamber, and cried out, " Piratas ! Piratash 
Piratas I " 

Ealeigh stated the case of "Piracy'' well, wh^n he 
wrote his "Apology'' to be laid before the King and the 
country. " If it be^now thought to be a breach of peace, the 
taking and burning of a Spanish town in the country, if 
the country be the King of Spain's, it had been no less a 
breach of peace to have wrought any mine of his, and to 
have robbed him of his gold. If the country be the 
King's, I have not offended; if it be not the King's, I 
must have perished if I had but taken gold out of the 
mines there." James I. allowed him to go to Guiana, 
and now James was to punish him for going. 

Ealeigh arrived in London Aug. 7. He now bribed 
Stukeley and a French physician who was with him to 
help him to escape to France. They accepted the bribe, 
rowed out towards the French ship, and then told him 
that they had betrayed him. Stukeley was always called 
Sir Judas Stukeley after this. When Stukeley com- 
plained to the King that some one spoke ill of him, 
James replied, " Were I disposed to hang every man that 
speaks ill of thee, there would not be trees enough in 
all my kingdom to hang them on." Later he fled the 
country for stealing, or clipping coin. He died a maniac 
in 1620, on the lonely Isle of Lundy. 

Ealeigh passed through the form of an examination 
(James havin,<jf proclaimed "an horrible invasion of the 
town of San Thome," . . . and " the malicious breaking 
of the peace which hath been so happily established ") ; 
but Philip III., through Gondomar, had already demanded 
his death. 



» 



SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 231 

Raleigh again entered the Tower Aug. 10, 1718. On 
the 28th of October, at eight in the morning, he was 
brought hastily to Westminster, being commanded to rise 
from his bed, where he was ill with the ague. A servant 
reminded him that the combing of his hair had been for- 
gotten. ^^Let them kem it that are to have it," said 
Raleigh with a smile. 

At the hearing at Westminster he was told by Francis 
Bacon, who was at enmity with him, that he was to be 
executed on the old charge of treason in 1603. (Bacon 
three years later was impeached for bribery and fined 
forty thousand pounds, besides losing his office.) 

Raleigh begged for a little delay, to finish some writ- 
ing; but the King had ordered that all things be done 
quickly, and had gone away lest he be besought for par- 
don. Much of this time, says Edwards, when he was not 
hunting or horse-racing, James was writing " Meditations 
on the Lord's Prayer ! '^ 

Later in the day, on this Thursday, the 28th, Lady 
Raleigh heard of the trial, and hastened to her husband. 
They talked together till midnight, he calming her heart- 
break with his cheerfulness and resolution. He told her 
he could not trust himself to speak of their dear little 
Carew. Her last words to him were that she had obtained 
permission to have his precious body for burial. He 
smiled and said, " It is well, dear Bess, that thou mayest 
dispose of that dead which thou hadst not always the 
disposing of when alive.'' 

He wrote on the fly-leaf of his Bible the night before 
his execution : — 

** E'en such is time! which takes in trust 
Our youth, our joys, and all we have; 
And pays us naught but age and dust, 
Wliich in the darli and silent grave, 



232 SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 

When we have wandered all our ways, 
Shuts up the story of our days. 
And from which grave, and earth, and dust, 
The Lord shall raise me up, I trust." 

In the morning he passed cheerfully through the vast 
throng of people to the block. Seeing an old man bare- 
headed, he took from his own head a night-cap of cut 
lace which he wore under his hat, and threw it to him 
with the words, " You need this, my friend, more than 
I do.'' 

'* He was the most fearless of death that ever was 
known/' said Dr. Townson, his spiritual adviser, "and 
the most resolute and confident ; yet with reverence and 
conscience." 

On the scaffold he spoke eloquently for nearly a half- 
hour, showing his innocence and asserting that the world 
would yet be persuaded of it. Friends lingered long on 
the scafford, loath to leave one of nature's noblemen and 
one of England's greatest and bravest. He gently dis- 
missed them, saying, " I have a long journey to go, 
therefore I must take my leave of you." 

After he had prayed, he said, " I die in the faith pro- 
fessed by the Church of England. I hope to be saved, 
and to have my sins washed away by the precious blood 
and merits of our Saviour, Christ." 

The executioner was affected, and asked to be forgiven 
for what he was about to do. Raleigh placed both hands 
on the man's shoulders, and assured him of his forgiveness. 
He then laid off his cloak, and asked to see the axe. 
The man hesitated. Raleigh again said, " I prithee 
let me see it. Dost thou think that I am afraid of 
it ? '^ 

He touched the edge with his finger, and kissed the 



SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 233 

blade, saying, "^ It is a sharp medicine, but one that will 
cure me of all diseases.'^ Soon he added, " When I stretch 
forth my hands, despatch me.'' 

The executioner then cast down his own cloak that Sir 
Walter might kneel upon it. When asked which way he 
would lay his head upon the block, he replied, '' So the 
heart be right, it matters not which way the head lies.'' 
Ealeigh knelt, prayed for a moment, laid his head towards 
the east, and then stretched forth his hands. The execu- 
tioner seemed benumbed. Ealeigh stretched them forth 
again, but no blow came. 

" What dost thou fear ? " said Ealeigh. " Strike, man, 
strike!" Two blows fell, but the first had done its 
bloody work. 

The severed head was placed in a red bag and given to 
Lady Ealeigh. Tliis she embalmed and kept with her 
while she lived, giving it to her sonCarew when she died. 
It was probably buried with him at West Horsley, in Sur- 
rey, where he had an estate. 

The body of Sir Walter she interred in St. Margaret's, 
in which church, in 1882, after a lapse of two centuries, 
a beautiful memorial window was placed in memory of 
the man so unjustly beheaded, the man who helped to 
make North America English instead of Spanish, as the 
forerunner of the Virginia colony ; whose treatment of 
the Indians was above reproach, in an age of harshness 
and immorality ; one of the bravest of Englishmen, and 
one of the most remarkable of his time. 

Lady Ealeigh lived till 1647, twenty -nine years after 
the death of Sir Walter. Though she did not see the 
unfortunate Charles I., the son of James, perish on the 
scaffold, Jan. 30, 1649, she saw the Stuarts overthrown. 
The vacillating and unrighteous policy of James I. bore 
its lecfitimate fruit. 



234 SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 

Carew Raleigh, the son, after graduating from Waclham 
College, Oxford, came to court, by favor of his kinsmau, 
William, Earl of Pembroke. James disliked him, as he 
'' appeared to him like the ghost of his father " — no 
wonder that James's conscience troubled him. After 
the King's death, a year later, Carew returned and 
begged to have his estates restored to him. Charles I. 
instead gave him four hundred pounds a year^ after the 
death of his mother, who had received that amount while 
living. He married Lady Philippa, the rich widow of 
Sir Anthony Ashley, and had two sons and three daugh- 
ters. He was in Parliament during Cromwell's time. 
At tlie restoration of Charles II. his elder son, Walter, 
was knighted, but died soon after. Carew Raleigh died 
in 1666, at the age of sixty -two. 



SIR JOHN FRANKLIN, DR. KANE, 
C. F. HALL, AND OTHERS. 



" ""VTO officer could have been found in the marine of 
-i-^ any country who combined more admirable qual- 
ifications for the duties of an explorer/^ says Dr. Elisha 
Kent Kane in his ^^ United States Grinnell Expedition.'^ 
^^To the resolute enterprise and powers of endurance 
which his former expeditions had tested so severely, Sir 
John Franklin united many delightful traits of character. 
With an enthusiasm almost boyish, he had a spirit of 
large but fearless forecast and a sensitive kindness 
of heart that commiserated every one but himself. He 
is remembered to this day among the Indians of North 
America as ' the great chief who would not kill a mos- 
quito.' '' He is remembered, too, by all the world, as 
the man for whom a heroic woman spent nearly her whole 
fortune and her whole life, moving two continents by 
her prayers and her appeals, to search for her husband 
in the frozen regions of iSTorth America. 

In the little town of Spilsby, in Lincolnshire, Eng- 
land, April 16, 1786, was born John Eranklin, the 
youngest son in a family of ten children — four boys 
and six girls. 

The father, Willingham Franklin, was engaged in 
mercantile pursuits, and seems to have had enough 
money to educate his children well, though the family 

235 



236 SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND CrilERS. 

lived simply, in a one-story house. One son, the second, 
Sir Willingham Franklin, educated at Oxford, became 
a judge of the Supreme Court of Judicature in Madras, 
and died at the age of forty-five. Another son. Major 
James Franklin, became distinguished in the army, was 
skilled in science, and a Fellow of the Royal Society, 
dying at the age of fifty-one. 

John was sent to a preparatory school at St. Ives, in 
Huntingdonshire, and at twelve to the Louth grammar 
school, with the expectation of his good mother, Hannah, 
that he would become a clergyman. 

But the lad seems to have had other thoughts in his 
mind. At ten years of age, having a holiday, he and 
a companion went to the shore of the North Sea, about 
ten miles from their home. The sublimity of the ocean 
greatly impressed John; and he then and there resolved 
to be a sailor, as has many another boy before and 
since, forgetful or unconscious of the hardships before 
them. 

Disappointed at his choice, but desiring to cure him 
of his wish to go to sea, as school had become distaste- 
ful to him, the parents sent him on board a merchant 
ship to Lisbon and back. Charmed with the blue waters 
and pleased with the kindness of the captain, who liked 
and petted the cheerful, enthusiastic boy, he became 
more than ever infatuated with a sailor's life. 

His earnest entreaties were at last acceded to; and 
John obtained a place on His Majesty's ship, Polyphe- 
mus, March 9, 1800, as a first-class volunteer. He was 
now fourteen years old. A year later the Polyphemus 
with eighteen line-of-battle ships and many other ves- 
sels, was engaged in the conflict off Copenhagen, which 
Lord Nelson declared " the greatest victory he ever 




SIR JOHN FRANKLIN. 



SIU JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS. 237 

gained . . . the most hard-fought battle and the most 
complete victory that ever was fought and obtained by 
the navy of this country.'^ The Polyphemus boarded 
and took possession of two ships^ losing six killed and 
twenty-four wounded. The boy who craved adventure 
was having it to his heart's content. 

Soon after the battle young Franklin was appointed 
one of six midshipmen on the ship Investigator, bound 
for exploration in the Southern Hemisphere. This posi- 
tion came through a relative, Captain Matthew Flinders, 
also from Lincolnshire, already somewhat known as an 
explorer and scientific student. 

The Investigator sailed from Spithead, July 18, 1801, 
and anchored in King George's Sound in Western Aus- 
tralia, Dec. 8. Then the ship sailed along the south 
shore, making surveys, and naming islands, bays, and 
inlets — two islands of the St. Francis group were 
named in honor of the boy navigator, then fifteen years 
of age, the Franklin Isles ; another in Spencer Gulf, 
Spilsby Island, after his birthplace, while a large bight 
was named Louth Bay, and two more islands Louth 
Islands, after the old grammar school, founded by 
Edward VI. in 1552, where the youth had studied books 
with his heart full of longing for the sea. Captain Flin- 
ders must have felt strangely drawn to the lad who was 
so eager in his geographical studies and such an apt 
scholar for the work in hand. 

On their arrival in Sydney Cove an observatory was 
set up on shore, where all the astronomical observations 
were taken. Franklin was made assistant to Mr. Samuel 
Flinders, brother of the captain, and was called jokingly, 
though not inaptly, " Tycho Brahe," after the celebrated 
Danish astronomer. 



238 SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS. 

Later the east coast of Australia was carefully ex- 
plored. After nearly two years, the ship's company 
having become much reduced by sickness and several 
deaths, through scurvy from lack of fresh food and 
from much exposure, the old Investigator being aban- 
doned as unseaworthy, Captain Flinders sailed for Eng- 
land in the Porpoise. Young Franklin was made master's- 
mate July 21, 1803. 

Six days after the Porpoise had sailed from Australia 
she was wrecked on the reefs. The crew were saved, 
with the charts and books of the expedition, though 
the latter were damaged by the salt water. These charts 
were spread out to dry upon the sand, and Franklin and 
others thoughtlessly drove over them the sheep which 
were saved alive from the ship. The marks, it is said, 
are still to be seen upon, them in the Eoyal Colonial 
Insitute in London. 

The shipwrecked men erected some tents on the 
beach, and prepared to live as best tliey might till relief 
should possibly come. Captain Flinders and thirteen 
men started in a six-oared boat, saved from the wreck, 
for Sydney, seven hundred and fifty miles away. They 
carried provisions for three weeks. It was doubtful if 
the little craft could ever weather the sea ; but by skil- 
ful management she reached the desired port and ob- 
tained three vessels, one bound for China, and two 
government schooners, which sailed to the wreck and 
picked up the anxious and disabled company. 

Franklin was carried to China, while Captain Flinders, 
touching at Mauritius for water and provisions, was made 
a prisoner of war by the French Governor. He was 
detained for six years and a half. On his release he 
wrote the narrative of his expedition, and, worn by his 



I 



Slli JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS. 239 

privations and unjust imprisonment, he died July 19, 
1814, on the very day that his book was published. 

Franklin sailed for England in a large squadron filled 
with the merchandise of China and Japan. On the 
journey they were attacked by a French squadron of 
men-of-war, but the latter were defeated by the mer- 
chant ships. After a little more than three years, 
Aug. 7, 1804, Franklin was once more in the one-story 
house at Spilsby, and Hannah Franklin was listening 
intently to the perils of her son, and rejoicing at his 
safe return. 

In a few weeks he was on board the Bellerophon, help- 
ing to blockade the French fleet in the harbor of Brest. 
On the 21st of October, 1805, he was in the great battle 
of Trafalgar, the Bellerophon taking a leading part, 
losing in the conflict her captain, John Cooke, and 
twenty-seven other men, while one hundred and twenty- 
seven were wounded. Franklin evinced conspicuous 
zeal and activity as signal midshipman, and was one 
of the few in the stern of the ship who escaped 
unhurt. 

From the Bellerophon, Franklin was transferred to 
the Bedford, and was made an acting lieutenant Dec. 5, 
1807. She cruised for some weeks off Lisbon, and 
helped to escort the royal family of Portugal from Lis- 
bon to Brazil, to which country they fled for safety when 
Marshal Junot invaded Portugal. For two years they 
were stationed on the coast of South America, return- 
ing to England in August, 1810. Three months later, 
Nov. 27, 1810, Franklin's mother died at Spilsb}^, at 
the age of fifty-nine. Slie had seen her son at twenty- 
four respected and promoted. She could not know how 
the lad born in the quiet liome was to be talked of and 



240 SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS. 

mourned throughout the world. She had reared him in 
her own earnest faith ; she could trust his future. 

During the next three years Franklin cruised in the 
West Indies, and was engaged in the attack on New 
Orleans in our war of 1812 with England. In clearing 
Lake Borgne of the American gun-boats so that the 
English could land their army, Franklin was wounded, 
and received a medal for his bravery. Later in the war 
he showed great courage. 

In 1815, on his return to England, Franklin was trans- 
ferred to the Forth, and made first lieutenant under 
Captain Sir William Bolton. After peace was concluded 
the navy was reduced, and Franklin, on half-pay, had 
leisure to devote himself to scientific study. 

From early times there had been talk of a north-west 
passage to Cathay (China) and India, by sailing from 
Europe above North America in the Arctic Circle, and 
thus crossing from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean ; also 
a north-east passage above Eussia. Tragedy had attended 
nearly every voyage. Sir Hugh Willoughby and his fro- 
zen crew met their fate in a Lapland harbor in try- 
ing to solve the north-east passage. William Barentz, 
the Dutch navigator, in his third voyage in 1596, per- 
ished off Icy Cape, Alaska. Henry Hudson, with his 
orders to ^^go direct to the North Pole," reached 80° 
30' off the coast of Spitzbergen, naming the north-west 
point Hakluyt Headland. No other vessel went so far 
to the northward for one hundred and sixty years. 

'' From a commercial point of view," says Captain 
Albert Hastings Markham, E. N., in his life of Frank- 
lin, '^ Hudson's voyage must always be regarded as a 
great success ; for the report that he made of the numer- 
ous whales and walruses he had seen led to the estab- 



SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS. 241 

Jishment of that lucrative and prosperous fishery which 
has, with varying success, been prosecuted to the present 
day. The east coast of Greenland, discovered by Hud- 
son, was not again visited' by any known navigator for 
the space of two hundred years." 

On Hudson's third voyage, 1609, in search of the 
north-west passage, he discovered the river which bears 
his liame, and on his fourth voyage, 1610, sailed through 
Hudson's Straits and several hundred miles on the great 
Hudson Bay. He wintered on Southampton Island in 
the northern part of the bay, and in the spring again 
started for the Pacific. But his men mutinied, and 
cruelly putting their commander with his only son and 
six sailors, all ill, into an open boat, left them to per- 
ish amid the icebergs. Some of the mutineers reached 
England in safety, six were killed by the Indians, and 
some starved to death. At home they were despised 
and died unlamented. Six years later, 1616, William 
Baffin discovered Baffin's Bay. 

Largely through the influence of Sir John Barrow, 
Secretary of the Admiralty, England was again inter- 
ested not only to try to discover the north-west passage 
and reach the North Pole, but to undertake these things 
partly in the interests of science, rather than the never- 
ending chase for the gold of Cathay and the wealth of 
the Indies. 

Lieutenant John Eoss and Lieutenant Edward Parry ^ 
were chosen to search for the north-west passage, and 
Commander David Buchan with Lieutenant John Erank- 
lin to reach, if possible, the North Pole. 

Buchan had already explored considerable of New- 
foundland, and Eranklin had had experience in Aus- 
tralia. Buchan commanded the Dorothea, of five hundred 



242 SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS. 

and seventy tons, and Franklin the Trent, of two hundred 
and fifty tons. Both ships carried provisions for two 
years and plenty of instruments for deep-sea soundings 
and astronomical observations. They sailed out of the 
Thames April 25, 1818. In just a month, May 24, the 
ship sighted Bear, or Cherie Island, south of Spitzber- 
gen, and proceeded, according to their directions from 
the Government, to seek the North Pole by sailing 
between Spitzbergen and Greenland. 

The ice soon became so thick on the ships that it was 
necessary to cut it away by axes from the bows, and the 
ropes were much covered. June 3 they were in Magda- 
lena Bay, on the north-west coast of Spitzbergen. Here 
they surveyed the harbor, shot seals and walruses which 
basked in the sun on the huge broken pieces of ice, saw a 
great glacier, believed to be a quarter of a mile in cir- 
cumference, slide into the sea from a height of two 
hundred feet, — its weight was computed to be over four 
hundred thousand tons, — and then sailed around the 
northern shore of Spitsbergen, and near Eed Bay were 
beset in the great ice pack which stretched away to the 
north. 

After several days the ice loosened and the ships 
anchored in Fair Haven, a little to the west of Eed Bay. 
They shot forty reindeer and several eider ducks, thus 
providing fresh meat for the men. 

Early in July the ships again put to sea, and reached 
eventually 80° 34' north, but could go no farther on ac- 
count of the impenetrable mass of ice. In an attempt to 
go westward the ships were caught in a gale of wind, 
and so battered by the ice floes, — great broken pieces, 
— that Franklin determined to drive his ship into the 
pack to escape destruction. When she struck the pack, 



I 



SIB JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS. 243 

the men lost their footing, the masts bent, and the 
vessel staggered from side to side. 

"Literally tossed from piece to piece/' wrote Captain 
Beechey, then first lieutenant of the Trent, " we had 
nothing left but patiently to abide the issue, for we 
could scarcely keep our feet, much less render any 
assistance to the vessel. The motion was so great that 
the ship's bell, which in the heaviest gale of wind had 
never struck by itself, now tolled so continually that it 
was ordered to be muffled, for the purpose of escaping 
the unpleasant association it was calculated to produce." 

On the following morning it was found that the 
Dorothea was even more badly damaged than the Trent, 
the port side being driven in. Though Franklin desired 
to press forward in the search for the Pole, Captain 
Buchan did not dare to take his vessel to England, un- 
accompanied by anotlier ship, therefore both returned 
on Oct. 22, not having accomplished their desire, but 
having provided a useful experience for the yet to be 
distinguished Arctic navigator, Franklin. 

The other expedition under Ross and Parry sailed 
through Davis Strait, up Baffin's Bay, and sixty miles 
into Lancaster Sound ; but the weather being bad, they 
returned to England in October of the same year. Ross 
thought there was land beyond, so that this water was 
Lancaster Bay, but Parry believed it to be a sound, thus 
continuing the north-west passage. 

Franklin and Parry were both eager to make another 
voyage of research, and accordingly in May, 1819, two 
expeditions started from England. Parry had two ships, 
the Hecla and Griper, the latter commanded by Lieuten- 
ant Liddon. In about a month they reached Davis 
Strait, passed through Baffin's Bay, and on Aug. 4, 



244 SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS. 

entered Lancaster Sound. Proceeding farther west, 
they came to a strait which they named Barrow Strait, 
after Sir John Barrow of the Admiralty. Here their 
progress was barred by solid ice, and they were obliged 
to sail south through Prince Regent Inlet, which leads 
into Boothia Gulf. 

Again stopped by ice, they retraced their course, and 
found an open passage through Barrow Strait. On their 
north side they discovered a channel which they named 
Wellington Channel, and on Sept. 3 they crossed 
the 110th meridian of west longitude, which passes 
through Melville Island in Melville Sound. Here the 
ice again stopped them, and cutting a channel in it for 
two miles, Parry took his ship through to winter quarters 
on the south side of Melville Island. This jjlace he 
called Winter Harbor. The men were made happy by 
the fact that they had earned the reward of five 
thousand pounds offered by Parliament to any person 
or ship sailing far enough west to cross the 110th 
meridian. 

Parry explored the country about him, using a light 
cart dragged by men. Sir F. Leopold M'Clintock found 
the marks of the wheels more than thirty years after- 
wards. 

The next summer, finding it impossible to push 
through the ice, and not having provisions for another 
winter, Parry returned to England, where he was pro- 
moted to the rank of commander, and made a Fellow of 
the Eoyal Society. He undertook a second voyage in 
1821, again sailing in the Hecla, with the ship Fury as 
escort, hoping to find the north-west passage through 
Hudson's Strait and Fox Channel; but they were unable 
to get beyond a strait which leads into Boothia Gulf, 



SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS. 245 

which he named Fury and Hecla Strait. There they 
wintered, and returned to England in the summer of 
1823. 

Meantime Franklin started from England, May 23, 
1819, to make his wonderful journey through the then 
unknown North American lands. He was accompanied 
by Dr. John Kichardson, a scientific man, Mr. George 
Back, and Mr. Eobert Hood, midshipmen and artists 
both, and John Hepburn, a sturdy sailor. They were 
carried to Hudson Bay in one of the Hudson Bay 
Company's ships. Prince of Wales, and after being nearly 
shipwrecked, reached York Factory on the south-west 
coast of the Bay, Aug. 30, after a three months' voyage. 

Here they took one of the transports of the company, 
a light boat about forty feet long, requiring a crew 
of from nine to twelve men. When these boats cannot 
pass over the rapids in the rivers, they are carried round 
the falls by the men. 

The party started from York Factory on the noon of 
Sept. 9, 1819. The first day they travelled twelve 
miles, six by boat, and then they were obliged to drag 
it by hand, walking along a steep and slippery bank. 
They arose at five the next morning, all eager for the 
march. 

Franklin notes in his journal the beauties of nature 
in this autumn month, on Steel Eiver. " The light yellow 
of the fading poplars formed a fine contrast to the dark 
evergreen of the spruce, whilst the willows, of an inter- 
mediate hue, served to shade the two principal masses 
of color into each other. The scene was occasionally 
enlivened by the bright purple tints of the dog-wood, 
blended with the browner shades of the dwarf birch, 
and frequently intermixed with the gay yellow flowers 



246 SIB JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTIIEBS. 

of the shrubby cinquefoil. With all these charms the scene 
appeared desolate from the want of the human species.'^ 

Later they found Indians on the verge of starvation, 
some having been reduced to eating members of their 
own family. 

At the end of nearly two months, Oct. 23, the party 
reached Cumberland House, on the Saskatchewan Eiver, 
after a toilsome journey of seven hundred miles, over 
marshes and across lakes, their clothes often wet all 
day long. 

Unable to obtain guides and hunters at this point, as 
he had hoped, Franklin, with Back and Hepburn, pressed 
on towards Fort Chippewyan, on Lake Athabasca, where 
he hoped to find men to accompany him, leaving 
Richardson and Hood to winter at Cumberland House. 

This winter journey of eight hundred and fifty-seven 
miles with dogs and sledges was a cold and dreary one. 
" The tea froze in the tin pots before we could drink it, 
and even a mixture of spirits and water became quite 
thick by congelation.'^ The provisions became so scanty 
that the poor dogs had " only a little burnt leather.'' 

The snow-shoes, made ^^of two light bars of wood, 
fastened together at the extremities, and projected into 
curves by transverse bars," were from four to six feet 
long and about one foot and a half wide, weighing two 
pounds each. The feet become very sore and much 
swollen after long travelling. 

Wolves abounded. Here and there the carcasses of deer 
were found, the wolves driving the herd with hideous 
yells over a precipice, and then feeding on their mangled 
bodies at their leisure. 

Finding an Indian hut on the journey and a pile of 
wood near by, they hoped it covered provisions. Eemov- 



SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTIIEIIS. 247 

ing the upper pieces of wood, they found the dead body 
of a woman, clothed in leather, and beside her, ^^ her 
former garments, the materials for making a fire, a fish- 
ing-line, a hatchet, and a bark dish/' These she was sup- 
posed to need in the other world. 

Five families of the Chippewyan tribe were found in 
a destitute condition. '^ They had recently,'^ says Frank- 
lin, ^^ destroyed everything they possessed, as a token of 
their great grief for the loss of their relatives in the pre- 
vailing sickness. It appears that no article is spared by 
these unhappy men when a near relative dies; their 
clothes and tents are cut to pieces, their guns broken, 
and every other weapon rendered useless, if some per- 
sons do not remove these articles from their sight, which 
is seldom done. Mr. Back sketched one of the children. 
This delighted the father very much, who charged the 
boy to be very good now, since his picture had been 
drawn by a great chief." 

The Chippeways think their first ancestor was a dog. 
The Chippeway widow, says Dr. Eichardson, carries a 
bundle of rags or a doll constantly in her arms, after the 
husband dies, she calling this bundle her husband. When 
her relatives think she has mourned long enough, per- 
haps a year, she is at liberty to marry again. 

In this long journey Franklin thought one of the 
greatest evils was that of "being constantly exposed to 
witness the wanton and unnecessary cruelty of the men 
to their dogs, who beat them unmercifully, and habitually 
vent on them the most dreadful and disgusting impreca- 
tions.'' Such treatment was all the more to be depre- 
cated, because "these useful animals are a comfort to 
them by the warmth they impart when lying by tlieir 
side or feet, as they usually do." 



248 SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS, 

Lieutenant Greely,. in his '' Three Years of Arctic Ser- 
vice," tells what kindness will do for these dogs. They 
bought at Godhaven, Greenland, '^ stout surly animals of 
apparently incurable viciousness.'' Some months later 
he says : ^^ Our dogs would now never be recognized as the 
same wolfish, snapping, untamed animals obtained ai the 
Greenland ports. Good care, plenty of food, and kind 
treatment had filled out their gaunt frames, put them in 
good working condition, and made them as good-natured, 
appreciative, and trustful as though they had never been 
pounded, half-starved, and generally abused from their 
puppyhood upward. Half-starved animals, who have 
never been kindly spoken to, and who have been cruelly 
beaten on the slightest pretence, necessarily assume in 
self-defence a threatening and vicious attitude toward 
all comers." Greely's dogs were fed regularly once a 
day, and ^^ we never found it necessary to maltreat them 
to insure fair behaviors at feeding-time.'^ Lieutenant 
Peary in his Greenland exploration fed his dogs once a 
day, and, as seen at his lectures, they were gentle and 
kindly creatures. 

Hall says, in his ^^ Arctic Research Expedition," that 
the Eskimos are usually kind to puppies, as they wish 
them for future service. Sometimes they treat them 
better than their children. During one of his sledge 
journeys he says, "I found that two puppies formed a 
part of our company. Their mother was an excellent 
sledge-dog of our team. The pups were carried in the 
legs of a pair of fur breeches, and they rode on the sledge 
when travelling. Every time we made a stop they were 
taken out of their warm quarters and given to the mother 
for nursing. When we arrived at our encampment, 
Sharkey built up a small snow-hut for the parent dog 
and her offspring." 



SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS. 249 

Tliese dogs assist in the hunts for seal, walrus, and 
bear. Barbekark, a most intelligent dog, belonging to 
Hall, killed a reindeer, and by his jumping and peculiar 
actions finally forced the men to go to the spot, where 
they found the dead animal, and brought it to the com- 
pany for food. 

When Hall was exhausted in a sledge journey Barbe- 
kark " would dance round me," he says, ^^dssing my face, 
placing himself by my side, where I could pillow my 
head upon his warm body. . . . He would bound toward 
me, raise himself on his hind-legs, place his paws upon 
my breast, and glance from me toward the vessel." Bar- 
bekark was brought home by Hall to the United 
States. 

The Eskimos use their dogs in summer as pack- 
animals. '' I have seen," says Gilder, in '' Schwatka's 
Search," a fine large dog that would carry two saddles 
of reindeer meat, or the entire forequarters of two rein- 
deer. His back would be bent low beneath the burden 
he bore, but still he would struggle along, panting the 
while, and regarding his master with a look of the deep- 
est affection whenever he came near him, yet ever ready 
to fight any other dog that got in his way." 

Dr. Richardson and Mr. Hood joined the party again 
in July, and all proceeded to Fort Providence, on the 
northern shore of Great Slave Lake. They now had with 
them twenty-six men, principally Canadian half-breeds, 
three women to make the fur clothes, and as many chil- 
dren. Several Indians in their canoes also joined the 
party to hunt and fish for them. 

After travelling five hundred and fifty -three miles, they 
were obliged to settle for the winter, as the Indians would 
not proceed farther, prophesying death from cold and 



250 SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHEBS. 

starvation. The place where they erected their log 
buildings they called Fort Enterprise. 

Very soon after their huts were built^ the walls and 
roofs plastered with clay, the reindeer disappeared from 
that locality, and fish began to fail them. These froze as 
soon as taken out of the nets ; very soon the nets them- 
selves were found empty. The Hudson Bay Company's 
posts had not been able to furnish them the provisions 
they had promised. 

It became necessary for Back to return to Fort Chippe- 
wyan for supplies. He starte'd Oct. 18, with three or four 
persons, and returned March 17, after a five months' jour- 
ney of eleven hundred and four miles on snow-shoes, 
with no covering at night save one blanket and a deerskin, 
with the thermometer once at fifty-seven degrees below 
zero, and sometimes without food for two and three days 
at a time. The Indians who went with him were very 
generous, often not tasting a fish or bird which they 
caught, but giving it to Back with the self-sacrificing 
words, ^'We are accustomed to starvation, but you are not.'^ 
The party lived largely on a weed or lichen gathered 
from the rocks, called tripe de roche. One night while 
they were eating it, "I perceived,'' says Mr. Back in his 
journal, " one of the women busily employed scraping an 
old skin, the contents of which her husband presented us 
with. They consisted of pounded meat, fat, and a greater 
proportion of Indian's and deer's hair than either ; and, 
though such a mixture may not appear very alluring to an 
English stomach, it was thought a great luxury after three 
days' privation in these cheerless regions of America.'^ 

The feet of the dogs became raw with the jagged ice, 
and Back made shoes for them, which, however, came off 
frequently in the deep snow. 



SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS, 251 

At length, with what food Back had been able to pro- 
cure, Franklin and his party left Fort Enterprise June 
14, 1821, with two large canoes and several sledges, 
crossing lakes and hills, and finally sailing on the Cop- 
permine E/iver to the sea. They arranged with an Indian 
chief, Akaitcho, to accumulate a large supply of provis- 
ions at Fort Enterprise, in case they should return there 
the following winter. 

Their feet were torn by the ice and sharp-pointed 
stones, and the feet of the dogs left bloody marks ; they 
were tormented with swarms of mosquitoes, and their food 
was mouldy from being wet ; but they pushed on hope- 
fully through the three hundred and thirty-four miles, for 
they were nearing the Arctic Ocean, which they had longed 
to reach. On July 21 they launched their canoes on the 
ocean, for the journey eastward along the coast line. 

During the journey from Fort Enterprise they killed 
several musk-oxen. ^^These,'^ said Franklin, " like the 
buffalo, herd together in bands, and generally frequent 
the barren grounds during the summer months, keeping 
near to the banks of the river, but retire to the ^voods in 
winter. . . . When two or three men get so near a herd 
as to fire at them from different points, these animals, 
instead of separating or running away, huddle closer 
together, and several are generally killed; but if the 
wound is not mortal they become enraged, and dart in 
the most furious manner at the hunters, who must be 
very dexterous to evade them. They can defend them- 
selves by their powerful horns against the wolves and 
bears, which, as the Indians say, they not unfreqently 
kill." 

Dr. Jolm Eichardson says of hunting this animal : '' The 
shaggy patriarch [the leader] advanced before the cows, 



252 SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS, 

which threw themselves into a circular group, and, lower- 
ing his shot-proof forehead so as to cover his body, came 
slowly forward, stamping and pawing the ground with his 
fore-feet, bellowing, and showing an evident disposition 
for fight, while he tainted the atmosphere with the strong 
musky odor of his body." 

When wounded by a ball, ^^ he instantly faced about, 
roared, struck the ground forcibly with his fore-feet, and 
seemed to be hesitating whether to charge or not.'^ The 
men were glad when they saw him climb the snow-cov- 
ered mountain, followed by the cows. 

Greely, in his ^^ Three Years of Arctic Service," tells 
of the securing alive of four calves in a band of musk- 
oxen, at Discovery Bay, in Robeson Channel, far north of 
Smith Sound. " The calves were brought in from the top 
of the mountain, eighteen hundred feet above the sea," 
says Greely. ^^ Every effort was made to raise the 
calves, which soon became tame and tractable. They 
ate milk, corn-meal, and almost any food that was given 
them. ... In a short time they became very fond of 
Long and Frederik, who generally cared for them, and 
would follow them around and put their noses into the 
men's pockets for food. I had intended to send them to 
the United States by the visiting vessel of 1882. When 
the long nights came it was impracticable to give them 
exercise, and probably from this cause, despite our care, 
they died." 

Greely tried to save the calves by sending them to 
Bellot Island, near by. When one was untied he died 
immediately. " The other was taken up into the ravine, 
following Long like a dog, but, despite all efforts, the men 
were unable to leave him there ; he ran after the sledge 
and returned to the station. After arriving near the 



SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS. 253 

house he followed Long everywhere, and was finally car- 
ried to his old pen. He died the next day.'^ 

The Franklin party saw a few Eskimos who fled at 
their approach, leaving an aged man who was too infirm 
to follow them. He was bent and white-haired. '' When- 
ever Terragaunoeuck received a present/' says Franklin, 
"• he placed each article first on his right shoulder, then 
on his left ; and when he wished to express still higher 
satisfaction, he rubbed it over his head. He held hatch- 
ets and other iron instruments in the highest esteem. 
On seeing his countenance in a glass for the first time, he 
exclaimed, ' I shall never kill deer more,' and immedi- 
ately put the mirror down. . . . These Eskimos strike 
fire with two stones, catching the sparks in the down of 
the catkins of a willow. . . Their cooking utensils are 
made of pot-stone, and they form very neat dishes of 
fur, the sides being made of thin deal bent into an oval 
form, secured at the ends by seaming, and fitted so nicely 
to the bottom as to be perfectly water-tight. They have 
also large spoons made of the horns of the musk oxen." 

Terregaunoeuck gave each person a piece of dried meat, 
which, though highly tainted, was at once eaten, as this 
was a token of peaceable intention. 

After reaching the Arctic Ocean, they explored the 
coast for five hundred and fifty-five miles, and would 
gladly have gone farther, but meeting no Eskimos who 
could provide them with food, and killing only some 
bears and two small deer, they turned back on the 22d of 
August, at a point which Franklin named Point Turna- 
gain, on Dease Strait, six and one-half degrees east from 
the mouth of the Coppermine River. 

It was a perilous journey in their light canoes, and 
most of the Indians refused to take it, having no faith 



254 SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS. 

that such boats could live amid the blocks of ice and in 
the storms. 

Soon after starting they landed on an island where the 
Eskimos had stored up fishing implements and winter 
sledges^ with dressed seal, musk ox, and deer-skins. 
" We took from this deposit/^ says Franklin, " four seal- 
skins to repair our shoes, and left in exchange a copper 
kettle and some awls and beads." 

At several places where Eskimos had been encamped, 
leaving either sledges or skins till their return, Franklin 
left presents of knives and beads, to show the friendship 
of the white men. This was but in accordance with the 
nature of the man so universally beloved and so univer- 
sally lamented. 

They explored a gulf and named it Coronation Gulf in 
honor of George IV., who had recently come to the 
throne. Hood Eiver was named after Franklin's young 
companion. Some islands he called Porden, after Miss 
Eleanor Anne Porden, the daughter of an eminent archi- 
tect, and a girl of much talent. When Buchan and 
Franklin made their first trip in the Dorothea and the 
Trent to the Arctic regions, she wrote a sonnet on the 
expedition, which led to her acquaintance with Franklin, 
and a deeper interest in him and his journey. She soon 
after wrote a poem, assuming the character of an Es- 
kimo maiden, begging Franklin to return to the North. 
Perhaps he could read between the lines that his return 
to England would be equally welcomed. 

On the departure for Fort Enterprise it was decided 
to take the shortest route overland, one hundred and 
forty-nine miles in a straight line. The stores and books 
were to be left in boxes en cache ; that is, covered up with 
a pile of stones away from the wolves, while each man 



sill JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS. 255 

bore on his shoulders about ninety pounds' weight in 
ammunition^ nets, hatchets, astronomical instruments, 
blankets, kettles, and two canoes. 

On the evening of the day on which they started they 
killed a cow from a drove of musk oxen, but the men 
were too heavily laden to carry more than a small portion 
of the flesh. This was unfortunate, as food soon became 
scarce. 

Early in September snow fell three feet deep, and 
storms were frequent. The last piece of pemican was 
gone. This food was prepared, says Sir John Eichard- 
son, in his " Arctic Searching Expedition,'' '^ from beef of 
the best quality, cut into thin steaks, from which the 
fat and membranous parts were pared away, was dried 
in a malt kiln over an oak fire, until its moisture was 
entirely dissipated, and the fibre of the meat became fri- 
able." After being ground in a mill, it was mixed with 
equal weight of beef-suet or lard. Sometimes Zante 
currants or sugar were added. The tents and bedclothes 
were frozen, and all began to suffer from insufficient food. 
Franklin writes in his journal, ^^ I was seized with a 
fainting fit, in consequence of exhaustion and sudden 
exposure to the wind; but after eating a morsel of port- 
able soup, I recovered so far as to be able to move on. 
I was unwilling at first to take this morsel of soup, which 
was diminishing the small and only remaining meal of 
the party ; but several of the men urged me to it, with 
much kindness." 

The larger of the two canoes became so broken through 
the falling of the man who carried it that it was valueless. 
They therefore used it to build a fire to cook the last of 
their soup and arrow-root, a scanty meal after three days' 
fasting. In the afternoon they gathered some tripe de 



256 SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS. 

roche from the rocks, and with half a partridge each, 
which had been shot during the day, they made a sup- 
per, cooked by a few willows dug from beneath the snow. 
They slept that night and all the succeeding nights 
upon their shoes and socks, to prevent them from freezing. 

They forded rapid rivers, often up to their breasts in 
water, and sometimes carried over one passenger at a 
time in their leaky canoe. One of the men walked all 
night to hunt a herd of musk oxen which he had seen, 
but was enabled to bring back only four pounds of a 
deer, the rest of which had been devoured by wolves. 

Finally, in a herd of musk oxen, they killed a cow 
which was skinned and cut up at once. ^^Tlie contents 
of its stomach were devoured upon the spot, and the 
raw intestines,'' writes Franklin. '' A few willows 
whose tops were seen peeping through the snow in the 
bottom of the valley Avere quickly grubbed, the tents 
pitched, and supper cooked and devoured with avidity. 
This was the sixth day since we had had a good meal, 
the tripe de roche (lichens), even when we got enough, 
only serving to allay the pangs of hunger for a short 
time ; '' and he adds, '' This unpalatable w^eed was now 
quite nauseous to the whole party,'' and produced sick- 
ness among them. 

The men were growing so weak after three weeks on 
the march that it became necessary to lighten the bag- 
gage by leaving the books and several of the instruments 
on the way. Dr. Eichardson was also obliged to leave 
liis specimens of plants and minerals. 

In crossing a river three hundred yards wide, the canoe 
was overturned in the middle of the rapid, and being 
righted and entered, she struck a rock and went down ; 
but they were able to rescue her, though Franklin's port- 



SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS, 257 

folio, with his journals, meteorological and astronomical 
observations made during the descent of the Coppermine 
Eiver and along the seacoast, were lost. One of the 
men, Belanger, was nearly drowned and dragged senseless 
through the rapid by a small cord belonging to one of 
the nets. When rescued he was rolled in blankets, and 
two men undressed themselves and went to bed with 
him; but he did not recover warmth and sensation for 
several hours. 

On Sept. 15 a deer was killed, and this gave cause 
for thanksgiving. When this was gone they ate the 
,3kin. ^^ We were now," writes Franklin, ^'almost ex- 
hausted by slender fare and travel, and our appetites 
had become ravenous. We looked, however, with hum- 
ble confidence to the great Author and Giver of all 
good, for a continuance of the support which had 
hitherto been always supplied to us at our greatest 
need.'' Evening prayers were read at the close of each 
weary day. 

The sun had not shone for six days, and the helpers 
were becoming discouraged, and even threatened to 
throw away their bundles. They did indeed throw 
away the broken canoe, and could not be induced to 
carry it again, and the oflficers had become too weak to 
do so after the refusal of the men. "The latter halted 
among some willows,^' says Franklin, "where they had 
])icked up some pieces of skin and a few bones of deer 
that had been devoured by the wolves last spring. They 
had rendered the bones friable by burning, and eaten 
them as well as the skin ; and several of them had 
added their old shoes to the repast.'' The officers also 
"refreshed themselves by eating their old shoes and a 
few scraps of leather," 



258 SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS. 

After eight days of famine they killed five small deer, 
and " every heart was filled with gratitude.'' They then 
prepared to make a raft of willows to cross the Copper- 
mine Eiver, forty miles from Fort Enterprise. 

The cold increased and the men became careless, and 
scattered in different directions for hunting. When they 
shot partridges, they secreted them from the officers, 
fearing starvation. Finally the raft was completed, and 
Dr. Eichardson, after several fruitless attempts by the 
men to cross, attempted to swim with a line about his 
body. He soon became benumbed with the cold, — he 
was reduced to skin and bone for lack of food, and so 
could not bear the exposure, — and sank before their 
eyes. They instantly pulled upon the line, and he was 
drawn in almost lifeless. He was restored ; but, his 
whole left side being deprived of feeling, did not come 
to its natural condition till the following summer. 

Finally a kind of canoe was made out of the painted 
canvas in which they wrapped their bedding, and it 
was covered with pitch gathered from the small pines 
which grew near. Meantime the men had found the 
putrid carcass of a deer which had perished in the cleft 
of a rock in the spring, and it was devoured at once. 
Again they found " the antlers and back bone of a deer 
which had been killed in the summer. The wolves and 
birds of prey had picked them clean, but there still 
remained a quantity of the spinal marrow which they 
had not been able to extract. This,'' writes Franklin, 
" although putrid, was esteemed a valuable prize, and 
the spine being divided into portions, was distributed 
equally. After eating the marrow, which was so acrid 
as to excoriate the lips, we rendered the bones friable by 
burning, and ate them also." 



I 



SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS. 259 

The company had now become so weak that some 
walked by the support of a stick. They could talk of 
little else but the dire need for food. 

They crossed the river in the little canoe, one at a 
time being drawn over; but at each passage it filled with 
water, and their clothes and bedding were wet and fro- 
zen. They now ate the remains of their old shoes and 
whatever scraps of leather they had, and pressed for- 
ward in the deep snow, some falling at almost every 
step. At last some became benumbed and speechless, 
and their companions were unable to carry them. Death 
stared the whole party in the face. 

Finally it was decided to leave Richardson and Hood 
with faithful John Hepburn to help them to gather 
what trijje de roche they could, while Franklin and 
the rest pushed on towards Fort Enterprise. After they 
^^had united in thanksgiving and prayers to Almighty 
God,'^ the forlorn party started with the hope of finding 
succor and relieving these three companions. 

Unable to carry the tent, they cut it up, and the next 
night crept close together, but could not keep warm in 
the deepening snow. Perrault, one of the men, had 
become so dizzy that he could not stand, and J. B. 
Belanger and Michel an Iroquois begged to return to 
Richardson and Hood, which was reluctantly permitted. 
About two miles farther on Fontano, an Italian, fell 
down utterly exhausted, and was allowed to find his way 
back, if possible, to the other men. 

The Franklin party was now reduced to four men 
besides himself, Adam, Peltier, Benoit, and Samandre. 
They collected some tripe de roche, and partook of their 
only meal in four days. They saw a herd of reindeer, but 
their only hunter, Adam, was too feeble to pursue them. 



260 SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS. 

At length the starving company readied Fort Enter- 
prise. What was their horror to find no deposit of pro- 
visions, as Akaitcho, the chief , had promised, and no 
trace of Indians. The whole party gave way to a flood 
of tears. They found a note from Mr. Back, w^ho had 
reached the place two days before with St. Germain, Sol- 
omon Belanger, and Beauparlant, that he had gone in 
search of Indians. 

They learned afterward the reason why Akaitcho had 
failed to keep his word in leaving provisions. Though 
disbelieving that the white men would come back alive, he 
entrusted the matter to his brother Humpy, who with 
his men failed to get a supply of ammunition from Fort 
Providence, and were obliged to turn old axes into balls. 
Several of the leading hunters were drowned, and some 
actually starved. Some writing was left on a plank for 
Franklin showing these reasons ; but as the house had 
become opened and a home for wild beasts, the writing 
had become destroyed. 

Franklin and his party then looked round at Fort 
Enterprise for something to eat, and to their great joy 
found some deer-skins which had been thrown away dur- 
ing their former residence. Some bones were also gath- 
ered from the ash heap. They pulled up the floors of 
the little house for a fire. 

Scarcely were they seated at the fire, when Belanger 
came, almost speechless and covered with ice, with a 
note from Back that he could find no trace of Indians. 

Franklin determined at once to search himself for 
Indians, as this was their only hope for life, and took 
with him Eenoit, and Augustus who had strayed away 
from the party and was now returned. They parted 
sadly from their companions, but Franklin says " There 



SIB JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTUERS. 261 

was far more calmness and resignation to the Divine 
will evinced by every one than could have been ex- 
pected/^ Franklin broke his snow-shoes, and was 
obliged to return to the Fort while the men went on. 

Adam was ill, and Samandre too despairing and weak 
to help, both weeping all day long. Peltier gathered 
the wood, and Franklin cooked whatever skins he could 
find under the snow. Their strength declined, and when 
once seated they had to help each other to arise. But 
all the time Franklin conversed cheerfully, and bade 
them hope for relief. 

A herd of reindeer passed, but nobody could lire a gun 
Avitliout resting it upon some support. They could no 
longer cut wood, being unable to lift the hatchet. At 
this juncture Dr. Eichardson and Hepburn entered. 

They had a sad story to relate. Mr. Hood, the artist, 
had been shot by Michel, the Iroquois, in the back of 
the head. Bickersteth's '' Scripture Help ^' was lying 
open beside the body, and it is probable that the bril- 
liant and warm-hearted young officer Avas reading it at the 
time he was shot. It now became probable to Eichard- 
son that the Indian, Michel, had killed and eaten Jean 
Baptist Belanger and Perrault, and that the supposed 
deer-meat which he brought to the tent was portions of 
their bodies. Michel became surly, threatened Hepburn, 
and would not obey orders. He said, ^^It is no use 
hunting, there are no animals ; you had better kill and 
eat me.'' Fearing for their own lives, Dr. Eichardson 
shot him through the head. Credit, Fontano, and Vail- 
lant, three other helpers, were also dead on the way. 

Eichardson became so exhausted on the journey to the 
fort that he fell frequently, and was saved only by the 
faithful Hepburn. As soon as they arrived, the latter 



262 SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS. 

killed a partridge, and after holding it before the fire 
for a few minuteSj it was divided equally to each man. 
'' It was the first flesh any of us had tasted," says Frank- 
lin, '^ for thirty-one days." . . . The doctor having 
brought his prayer-book and Testament, some prayers 
and portions of Scripture, appropriate to our situation, 
were read, and we retired to bed." 

Peltier and Samandre soon died from exhaustion, and 
the rest were unable to bury them. Adam was so low 
that Franklin remained constantly by his side, and slept 
by him at night to keep some warmth in his emaciated 
body. 

Nov. 4 Franklin found but three bones, and returned 
fatigued to the house. The doctor and Hepburn were 
now unable to rise without each helping the other. 
They all uttered fretful expressions, which were no 
sooner spoken than atoned for. They still read the New 
Testament, and prayed morning and evening, — a pitiful 
circle of worshippers in that cheerless hut, — but it 
" always afforded us the greatest consolation," says 
Franklin, '' serving to reanimate our hopes in the mercy 
of the Omnipotent, who alone could save and deliver 
us." 

Nov. 7 they heard the report of a gun, and then saw 
three Indians close to the house. Dr. Eichardson and 
Franklin ^^immediately addressed thanksgiving to the 
throne of mercy for this deliverance." Adam could not 
comprehend it ; he was so weak ; he tried to rise, but 
sank down again. 

The Indians had been sent by Mr. Back from Akait- 
cho's encampment, which he had finally reached, and 
brought dried deer-meat, some fat, and a few tongues. 
Deliverance had come at last, and they werQ saved from 



Slli JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS, 268 

starvation. One Indian returned to Akaitclio to tell about 
their condition, while two, Crooked-Foot and the Rat, 
stayed to give the most watchful care to the white men, 
feeding them as if they were children. 

Meantime the journey of Back and his men had been 
replete with hardships. They lived on bones and skins 
abandoned by the wolves on account of the severity of 
the weather. Poor Beanparlant fell and froze to death 
on the journey. Their feet were cracked, their faces 
and fingers frozen, and they barely escaped death. 

When Franklin and his men were somewhat recov- 
ered, they moved on towards Fort Providence. " The 
Indians,'' he says, '^ treated us with the utmost tender- 
ness, gave us their snow-shoes, and walked without 
themselves, keeping by our sides, that they might lift 
us when we fell.'' 

Finally they reached the encampment of the chief, 
Akaitcho, where they were warmly welcomed, the chief 
cooking for them with his own hands. They reached 
Fort Providence Dec. 11. Letters awaited them from 
England. Franklin, Back, and Hood had been pro- 
moted, the former to be commander, the two latter to 
be lieutenants. Alas, that Hood's had come too late I 

Adam, the interpreter, joined himself to the Copper 
Indians, and the rest of the party, with dogs and sledges, 
reached York Factory on the Hudson Bay, July 14, 1822, 
having made by land and water one of the most perilous 
journeys on record, of five thousand five hundred and 
fifty miles. Franklin reached England after an absence 
of about three years. He was immediately made a Fel- 
low of the Eoyal Society for his valuable contributions 
to science in the way of exploration and discovery, and 
was honored throughout England for his bravery, his 



264 SIE JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS, 

self-sacrifice, and heroic character. His book, published 
the following year, modest, clear, and most interesting, 
was widely read. 

He was at this time, says one of his relatives, in 
expression, " grave and mild, and very benignant ; his 
build, thoroughly that of a sailor; his stature, rather 
below the middle height ; his look, very kind, and his 
manner very quiet, though not without a certain dignity, 
as of one accustomed to command others." He had also 
great cheerfulness, and a self-reliance which marked him 
as a natural leader of men. 

Commander Parry voiced the general feeling when he 
wrote liim : '' Of the splendid achievements of yourself 
and your brave companions in enterprise, I can hardly 
trust myself to speak, for I am apprehensive of not con- 
veying what, indeed, can never be conveyed adequately 
in words — my unbounded admiration of what you have, 
under the blessing of God, been enabled to perform, and 
the manner in which you have performed it. . > . In you 
and your party, my dear friend, we see so sublime an 
instance of Christian confidence in the Almighty, of the 
superiority of moral and religious energy over mere 
brute strength of body, that it is impossible to contem- 
plate your sufferings and preservation without a sense 
of reverential awe ! . . . Your letter was put into my 
hand at Shetland, and I need not be ashamed to say that 
I cried over it like a child.'' 

Franklin had another reason for happiness and grati- 
tude. He had won the heart and promise of marriage 
of the young poet, Eleanor Anne Porden. She had 
published an epic poem in two volumes called "Coeur de 
Lion," and a scientific poem called " The Veils," for 
which she was made a member of the Institute of Paris. 



SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS, 265 

She was highly esteemed, and drew about her a charm- 
ing circle of intellectual men and women. Once when 
at the Eoyal Institute in London she heard some one 
remark, ^^ that those ladies better be at home making 
puddings.'' With a smile, she answered, turning 
towards him, '^ We made those before we came out ! " 

They were married Aug. 19, 1823. At this time she 
was twenty-six years of age, and he eleven years her 
senior, being thirty-seven. Before marriage she prom- 
ised him never to deter him from accepting any position 
of hardship, and she kept her word. 

The next year their only child was born, June 3, 1824, 
to whom was given the name of her mother, Eleanor. 
Eight months afterwards Franklin was leaving the bed- 
side of a dying wife, to make a second expedition over 
the same starvation route which he had taken less than 
three years before. He carried with him a flag, a silk 
Union Jack, wrought by her fragile hands in her illness, 
with strict injunctions that it should not be unfolded 
till he was in the Arctic Sea. She urged his going, but 
knew that the good-by was final. She died six days after 
his departure. 

Captain Parry was about to make his third voyage in 
search of the Korth-west Passage, and Captain Franklin 
proposed another land expedition to the mouth of the 
Mackenzie Eiver, when one part of the company should 
come eastward along the coast to the Coppermine River, 
and the other part should explore the coast to the west- 
ward. A third expedition, under Captain Beechey, was 
to proceed to Kotzebue Inlet in Bering Strait, with the 
object of meeting Franklin as he journeyed west from 
the mouth of the Mackenzie River, while Dr. Richard- 
son, his former companion, came eastward. 



266 SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTIIEUS. 

Franklin and his party left England Feb. 16, 1825, 
and after reaching New York, travelled through the 
States and Canada, arriving at the Saskatchewan Eiver, 
June 15. He had already heard of the death of his 
lovely young wife. 

The party reached Fort Eesolution on Great Slave 
Lake, July 29. Here they met Humpey, the brother of 
the chief Akaitcho, and some other prominent Indians, 
who shook hands with Franklin, pressing his hand against 
their hearts, and exclaiming, " How much we regret 
that we cannot tell what we feel for you here!'' On 
Aug. 2 they entered Mackenzie Eiver, which was over 
two miles broad, and in five days reached Fort Norman. 
Lieutenant Back of the previous expedition, and Mr. 
Dease of the Hudson Bay Company, were commissioned 
to proceed to Great Bear Lake, east of the river, and 
build a house for the winter. Dr. Eichardson was to 
explore the northern shore of the lake. Franklin and 
Mr. Kendall (who afterwards married Miss Kay, the 
niece of Mrs. Franklin) with an Eskimo interpreter, 
Augustus, of the former voyage, a native guide, and a 
crew of six Englishmen, sailed towards the mouth of the 
Mackenzie. 

The sea was reached in six days. Here Franklin un- 
furled the silken flag of his beloved Eleanor. He wrote 
to her sister : '' Here was first displayed the flag which 
my lamented Eleanor made, and you can imagine it was 
with heartfelt emotion I first saw it unfurled ; but in a 
short time I derived great pleasure in looking at it.'' 

They returned to the winter quarters, which had been 
named in the absence of the commander Fort Franklin, 
and passed the season quite comfortably. They exam- 
ined all the country round, and made scientific observa- 



sill JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS. 267 

tions. Franklin wrote Sir E. J. Murchison : " We have 
got Conybeare and Phillips, Phillips and Jameson on 
Mineralogy, and Humboldt on the superposition of 
rocks. ... I have been delighted with Dante, and so 
have my companions ; but I must confess there is fre- 
quently a depth of thought and reasoning to which my 
mind can hardly reach — perhaps these parts will be 
better comprehended on re-perusal. It seems clear 
that Milton, as well as other poets, have borrowed ideas 
from his comprehensive mind." 

Franklin established a school for the men and others 
in camp, which the officers taught. The men built a 
large boat in their leisure hours, which was called the 
Reliance. 

In early summer the party made ready for travel. 
Late in May the white anemones blossomed abundantly. 
Mosquitoes became "vigorous and tormenting." Four- 
teen men under Franklin and Back, in the boats Lion 
and Reliance, started westward on the seacoast July 7, 
1826. That very day about three hundred Eskimos 
in their little canoes, or kayaks, which hold one 
person each, gathered about them, and wished to 
trade. One of the kayaks was overturned and its 
owner plunged headforemost into the mud ; but he was 
kindly cared for by Augustus, the Eskimo interpreter, 
who wrapped him in his own great-coat. The man and 
the great-coat disappeared later. 

The Eskimos now rushed into the Lion and Reliance, 
stealing all they could lay their hands upon, and hand- 
ing the articles to the women, who hid them. Two or 
three of the larger Eskimos grasped Franklin by the 
wrists and forced him to sit between them. " The third 
took his station in front to catch my arm whenever I 



268 SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS, 

attempted to lift my gun/' says Franklin, " or the 
broad dagger which Imng by my side. The whole way 
to the shore they kept repeating the word ^ teyma,^ beat- 
ing gently on my left breast with their hands^ and press- 
ing mine against their breasts. As we nearedthe beach, 
two omiaks [larger boats for women and children] full of 
women arrived, and the teymas and vociferations were 
redoubled." 

The Eskimos now became so importunate that the 
crews beat them off with the large ends of their mus- 
kets, but Eranklin had given orders previously that no 
blood should be shed. Finally they got away from the 
thieving crowd. '' I am still of opinion that, mingled as 
we were with them,'' said the commander, " the first 
blood we had shed would have been instantly revenged 
by the sacrifice of all our lives." Both the crews, follow- 
ing the example of their leader, had shown the utmost 
coolness as well as bravery. 

Later in the journey tliey met Eskimos who wore 
pieces of bone or shells in their noses, and on each side 
of the under lip circular pieces of ivory with a large 
blue bead in the centre. When unable to procure 
ivory, stones were substituted. 

" The dress of the women," writes Franklin, " differed 
from that of the men only in their wearing wide trousers 
and in the size of their hoods, which do not fit close to 
the head, but are made large for the purpose of receiv- 
ing their children. These are ornamented with stripes 
of different colored skins, and round the top is fastened 
a band of wolfs hair, made to stand erect. Their own 
black hair is very tastefully turned up from behind 
to the top of the head, and tied by strings of white and 
blue beads, or cords of white deer-skin. It is divided in 



SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS. 269 

front so as to form on each side a thick tail, to which 
are appended strings of beads that reach to the waist. 
The women were from four feet and a half to four and 
three-quarters high, and generally fat." Lieutenant 
Back sketched one of these women, and she testified her 
pleasure by smiles and jumps. The men were more 
sedate about their portraits, '^ but not less pleased than 
the women," says the journal of Franklin. The natives 
call themselves Inuits — not Eskimos — from the word 
imtk, meaning a man. 

The weather was foggy ; they were detained often by 
ice, and finally, when about half-way to Icy Cape, where 
Captain Beechey was to meet them on his way up from 
Bering Strait, Franklin and his party, seeing that they 
could not possibly reach Beechey before winter, when 
all would probably perish, turned back, Aug. 18, calling 
the place Eeturn Reef. He had travelled along the coast 
three hundred and seventy -four miles. Captain Beechey 
reached Icy Cape the middle of August, one hundred 
and sixty miles from the point where Franklin turned 
back. 

They reached Fort Franklin Sept. 21, having travelled 
2,048 miles since they started. They found that Dr. 
Eichardson and his party had explored the coast from the 
Mackenzie to the Coppermine Elvers, 863 miles, — 1,908 
miles in all, by land and water, — the doctor naming a 
bay which they discovered Franklin Bay, saying, as he 
bestowed the name, " After having served under Captain 
Franklin for nearly seven years in two successive voyages 
of discovery, I trust I may be allowed to say that, how- 
ever high his brother officers may rate his courage and 
talents, either in the ordinary line of his professional 
duty, or in the field of discovery, the hold he acquires 



270 SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS. 

upon the affections of those under his command^ by a 
continual series of the most conciliatory attentions to 
their feelings, and an uniform and unremitting regard to 
their best interests, is not less conspicuous." Dr. Eich- 
ardson had gathered valuable geological data and natural 
history collections with Mr. Drummond. The latter had 
travelled to the Eocky Mountains, and endured great 
hardships in the journey. In a solitary hut built by 
himself on the mountains, he collected two hundred 
specimens of birds and animals, and more than fifteen 
hundred plants. 

Dr. Eichardson made a careful study of the different 
tribes which he met. '' Among the Kutchin tribe the 
women," he says, '^ in winter do all the drudgery, such as 
collecting the firewood, assisting the dogs in hauling the 
sledge, bringing in the snow to melt for water, and, in 
fact, perform all the domestic duties except cooking, 
which is the man's office ; and the wives do not eat till 
the husband is satisfied. In summer the women labor 
little, except in drying meat or fish for its preservation. 
The men alone paddle, while the women sit as passen- 
gers; and husbands will even carry their wives to the 
shore in their arms, that they may not wet their feet." 

The Tinne tribe do not altogether preclude women from 
eating with men, " though in times of scarcity the man 
would expect to be first fed, as it is a maxim with them 
that the woman who cooks can be well sustained by lick- 
ing her fingers." 

Yet, says Dr. Eichardson, these women have influence 
over the men, ^^and they seldom permit provisions or 
other articles to be disposed of without expressing their 
thoughts on the matter with much earnestness and volu- 
bility." 



SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS. 271 

Some tribes have a unique method of courtship. 
'' Early in the morning/' says Kichardson, '^ the lover 
makes his appearance at the abode of the father of the 
object of his choice, and, without a word of explanation, 
begins to heat the bath-room, to bring in water, and to pre- 
pare food. Then he is asked who he is, and why he per- 
forms these offices. In reply he expresses his wish to 
have the daughter for a wife ; ... he remains as a 
servant in the house a whole year. At the end of that 
time he receives a reward for his services from the 
father, and takes home his bride.'' 

Among some of the Eskimos, as in North Green- 
land, Kane says, the bride is carried off by force. The 
girl betrothed to Jens was carried off three times, but 
she managed to keep her troth. " In the result," says 
Kane, ^' Jens, as phlegmatic and stupid a half-breed as I 
ever met with, got the prettiest woman in all North 
Greenland." 

The whole Franklin party wintered again at Fort Frank- 
lin, the thermometer being sometimes at fifty-eight below 
zero. Feb. 20, 1827, Franklin started homeward, reach- 
ing England Sept. 26, 1827, after an absence of more than 
two years and seven months. 

For scientific observations and exploration of over a 
tliousand miles of the unknown coast of North America 
Franklin was presented with the gold medal of the Paris 
Geographical Society, valued at twelve hundred francs, 
for '• the most important acquisition to geographical 
knowledge " during the year. Two years later, April 29, 
1829, he was knighted, becoming Sir John Franklin, and 
in the following July received the honorary degree of 
D.C.L. from the conservative University of Oxford. Later, 
in 1846, he was elected Correspondent of the Institute of 
France in tlie Academy of Science3, 



272 SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS, 

A little over a year after his return to England, Nov. 
6, 1828, Franklin, then forty-two years old, married Jane 
Griflfin, thirty-six years of age, second daughter of John 
•Griffin, Esq., of Bedford Place, London, a lady of fine 
intellect, and of wealth, and a helper in all possible ways. 
She became a mother to the only child of Sir John, little 
Eleanor, four and a half years old. 

Meantime Parry, who was to act in concert with Frank- 
lin if they came near to each other, had sailed in the 
Hecla and Fury on his third voyage from England, May 
19, 1824, some months before Franklin. They passed 
through Baffin's Bay, into Lancaster Sound ; and the ice 
preventing his pushing forward, he was obliged to win- 
ter at Port Boven, on the east side of Prince Hegent Inlet. 

This was his third winter in the Arctic regions. " All 
is dreary monotonous whiteness," he writes, " not merely 
for days or weeks, but for more than half a year to- 
gether. Whichever way the eye is turned it meets a 
picture calculated to impress upon the mind an idea of 
inanimate stillness, of that motionless torpor with which 
our feelings have nothing congenial ; of anything, in 
short, but life. In the very silence there is a deadness 
with which a human spectator appears out of keeping. 
The presence of man seems an intrusion on the dreary 
solitude of this wintry desert, which even its native ani- 
mals have for awhile forsaken." 

The sun was absent from the view of Parry and his men 
for one hundred and twenty-one days, and the thermom- 
eter was below zero for one hundred and thirty-one days. 

They did not break out of the ice till July 20, and 
very soon after the Fury went to pieces on the shore. 
The place where she struck was called Fury Beach, on 
the east side of Prince Regent Inlet ; and her provisions 



SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS. 273 

were left there, while her officers and crew went back to 
England on the Hecla. 

Unsuccessful in finding the North-west Passage, Parry 
sailed two years later, on his fourth voyage, with the hope 
of reaching the North Pole. He left England April 
3, 1827, and reached Spitzbergen in May, when two boats. 
Enterprise and Endeavor, left the ship Hecla, and under 
Parry and Lieutenant James C. Eoss, went northward. 
After a toilsome journey of 978 geographical miles — 
1,127 statute miles — over ice-floes and through deep 
snow, travelling at night on account of snow-blindness, 
they reached latitude 82° 45^, a higher position than any 
other navigator at that time had attained, and then 
started homeward, arriving in England at nearly the same 
time with Franklin from his American coast-line expe- 
dition in 1827. 

Little more was done by the government for some 
years in Arctic research. In 1829 the Victory, fitted out 
by Sir Felix Booth, was commanded by Sir John Ross 
and his nephew, James Eoss, for the discovery of the 
North-west Passage. Sir Felix gave seventeen thousand 
pounds towards the enterprise, and Sir Johii Eoss three 
thousand pounds. 

They sailed through Lancaster Sound and into Prince 
Eegent Inlet, where, after examining three hundred 
miles of undiscovered coast, they went into winter quar- 
ters at Felix Harbor on the east coast of Boothia in 
Boothia Gulf. The next year they made several sledge 
journeys, one to King William Island, which land has 
since possessed a melancholy history. They named the 
northern point Cape Felix, and twenty miles to the 
south-west Victory Point, from which place they returned 
to their ship. Six of their eight dogs were dead 



274 SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS. 

from exhaustion, and tliey themselves were nearly 
famished. 

After a second winter in the ship, James Eoss discov- 
ered the position of the North Magnetic Pole on the 
western shore of Boothia, in latitude 70° 5^ 17 ^' in the 
spring, and other journeys were made. The ship was 
still locked in the ice, and they spent a third winter 
upon her. 

They determined at last to abandon her, knowing that 
they could not survive much longer. Scurvy had broken 
out, and some had died. They left the ship April 23, 

1832, and went northward through Prince Eegent Inlet, 
hoping to be saved by some whaling-vessel, but none ap- 
pearing they were obliged to return and winter as best 
they could at Fury Beach, and live on the provisions left 
by Parry, when the Fury was wrecked in the summer of 
1825, seven years before. 

After the fourth winter " their situation," writes Eoss, 
^^ was becoming truly awful, since, if they were not lib- 
erated in the ensuing summer, little prospect appeared of 
their surviving another year. It was necessary to make 
a reduction in the allowance of preserved meats ; bread 
was somewhat deficient, and the stock of wine and spirits 
was entirely exhausted." As early in the summer as 
possible they worked their way to Lancaster Sound, 
where they were finally picked up by the whaler, Isa- 
bella. Eoss had some difficulty in making his story be- 
lieved on board, as he had been reported dead two years 
before. Their arrival in England in the autumn of 1833 
was hailed with great joy. 

In the spring of the year in which they were rescued, 

1833, Captain George Back, who had served so heroically 
under Franklin, undertook a search expedition for the 



SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS. 275 

missing navigator, Sir John Ross. The company crossed 
over from Hudson Bay, arriving at Fort Resolution, on 
Great Slave Lake, Aug. 8. They suffered greatly from 
sand-flies and mosquitoes. " It is in vain," says Back in 
his account of his journey, " to attempt to defend yourself 
against these puny bloodsuckers : though you crush thou- 
sands of them, tens of thousands arise to avenge the death 
of their companions, and you very soon discover that the 
conflict which you are waging is one in which you are sure 
to be defeated. So great at last are the pains and fatigue 
in buffeting away this attacking force, that in despair 
you throw yourself, half-suffocated, in a blanket, with 
your face upon the ground, and snatch a few minutes of 
sleepless rest. ... As we dived into the confined and 
suffocating chasms, or waded through the close swamps, 
they rose in clouds, actually darkening the air. To see 
or to speak was equally difficult, for they rushed at 
every undefended part, and fixed their poisonous fangs 
in an instant. Our faces streamed with blood, as if 
leeches had been applied.'^ 

Back and his company determined to reach the sea by 
one of the unexplored rivers, the existence of which was 
known, but nothing of its source or character. They 
passed the winter on Great Slave Lake, at Fort Reliance. 

Bands of starving Indians lingered about them, as 
they could obtain nothing by hunting, and hoped for 
relief from the white men. They would watch every 
mouthful taken by the men at their meals, but utter no 
word of complaint. It was impossible to give relief to 
all, but even small portions of mouldy pemican, which 
had been saved for the dogs, were gratefully received. 

^* Famine with her gaunt and bony arm," says Back, 
'' pursued them at every turn, withered their energies, 



276 SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS. 

and strewed tliem lifeless on the cold bosom of the 
snow. . . . Often did I share my own plate with the chil- 
dren whose helpless state and piteous cries were pecu- 
liarly distressing. Compassion for the full-grown may, 
or may not, be felt, but that heart must be cased in steel 
which is insensible to the cry of a child for food.'^ 

The food of the white men finally became so reduced 
that it is doubtful if they would have survived had it 
not been for Akaitcho, the chief, who brought them some 
meat. He said, " The great chief trusts in us, and it is 
better that ten Indians perish than that one white man 
should perish through our negligence and breach of faith.'' 

Augustus, the Eskimo interpreter, hearing that Cap- 
tain Back was again in the country, set out on foot 
from Hudson Bay to join him; but either exhausted by 
the journey, or starved, or frozen in the blinding storms, 
he never reached Back, for his bleached body was found 
on the way afterwards. He was '' a faithful, disinter- 
ested, kind-hearted creature," said Back, " who had won 
the regard, not of myself only, but, I may add, of Sir J. 
Franklin and Dr. Eichardson also.'' 

Tne winter passed at Fort Reliance was cold in the 
extreme, the weather seventy degrees below zero, and 
even lower. " With eight logs of dry wood on the fire," 
says Back, " I could not get the thermometer higher than 
twelve degrees below zero. Ink and paint froze. The 
skin of the hands became dry, cracked, and opened into 
unsightly and smarting gashes, which we were obliged 
to anoint with grease. On one occasion, after washing 
my face within three feet of the fire, my hair was clotted 
with ice before I had time to dry it." 

Towards the end of April, as the company were pre- 
paring for the search, the welcome news came that Eoss 



SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS. 27T 

and his men had been saved by the Isabella. Now that 
they were in the wilds of North America^ they were 
obliged, however, to push on their explorations. 

On July 8, with their boat-load of provisions and ten 
persons, they proceeded to sail down the Great Fish 
Kiver, which they found abounding in rapids and bowl- 
ders, — five large rapids in a distance of three miles, — a 
river five hundred and thirty geographical miles in 
length, broadening out into five large lakes, without a 
single tree on the whole line of its banks. 

On their return up the river they again wintered at 
Fort Eeliance, and returned to England Sept. 8, 1835, 
after an absence of two years and a half. Back was 
knighted, becoming Sir George Back, and given the 
gold medal of the Royal Geographical Society for dis- 
covering the Great Fish Eiver, which thereafter bore 
his name, and navigating it to the Arctic Sea. Back's 
Great Fish River has a mournful history in connection 
with Sir John Franklin, and will always be pathetically 
associated with King William Island. 

All this time Sir John Franklin was not idle. In 
1830, Aug. 23, he was appointed to the command of 
the twenty-six-gun frigate Rainbow, for service in the 
Mediterranean. So well beloved was he by his men, 
that the ship was called the Celestial Rainbow, and the 
sailors named her Franklin's Paradise. 

As by the rules of the navy his wife could not be in 
the ship with him, she travelled with friends in Syria, 
Palestine, and Egypt, rejoining him when he was sta- 
tioned at any city. She had already travelled exten- 
sively in Europe with her father. 

Franklin exerted great influence in the troubled condi- 
tion of Greece at this time. He was frequently called 



278 SIB JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS. 

upon to help preserve order and to protect the inhabit- 
ants. For his services during the War of Liberation 
he was made a Knight of the Eedeemer of Greece, by 
King OthOj and a Kniglit Commander of the Guelphic 
Order of Hanover, by England. 

'' To your calm and steady conduct may be attributed 
the preservation of the town and inhabitants of Patras/' 
wrote Admiral Sir H. Hotham to Franklin, " the pro- 
tection of commerce, and the advancement of the benev- 
olent intentions of the Allied Sovereigns in favor of the 
Greek nation." 

After this he was offered the Lieutenant-Governorship 
of Van Diemen's Land, now Tasmania, and accepted 
with permission to resign in case of war. He and Lady 
Franklin, with Eleanor, now thirteen years old, and a 
favorite nie'ce of Lady Franklin, Miss Sophia Cracroft, 
sailed in the ship Fairlee, reaching Hobart Town in 
January, 1837. No sooner was Franklin established in 
his home than he began to devise projects for the good 
of the people under his control. He begged the Home 
Government for a charter for a large college. On the 
recommendation of Dr. Arnold of Engby, Rev. J. P. 
Gell was sent out from England to organize such an 
institution. The Legislative Council voted £2,500 to 
begin the matter, and the corner-stone was laid by Sir 
John at Norfolk House, Nov. 7, 1840. 

Quarrels by different religious denominations and 
local jealousies, some wishing the college to be built at 
Hobart Town, made the Imperial Government withdraw 
its support, and the college had to be given up. Mr. 
Gell, however, established an excellent school at Hobart 
Town, to which Lady Franklin gave four hundred acres 
of land and Sir John contributed five hundred pounds. 



SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTUERS. 279 

Mr. Gell afterwards married Eleanor, the only child of Sir 
John, who died in I860, when her husband was vicar of 
St. John's, dotting Hill. 

Sir John founded a Scientific Society at Hobart Town, 
which is now the Koyal Society of Tasmania. Its object 
was to treat of natural history, agriculture, and the like. 
The papers contributed by the members were published 
at his expense. He also built -the Tasmania Museum, to 
contain collections made in natural history. He raised 
a monument in South Australia, in conjunction with the 
government there, to his old friend Captain Flinders, 
with whom in his youth lie had helped to explore the 
Australian coast. It is a granite obelisk, placed on a 
high hill, and is a landmark for sailors. It was char- 
acteristic of Franklin that he never forgot a friend. 
Franklin gave much attention to surveys and explo- 
rations, and looked carefully after the welfare of the 
convicts, there being a very large penal settlement 
near Hobart Town. Lady Franklin also took the deep- 
est interest in the convicts. She corresponded with 
Elizabeth Fry, about the women. She bought large 
tracts of land, on which she established immigrants, 
paying all their first expenses, providing implements 
for work, charging a nominal rent for the land, and 
giving the opportunity of purchase. At the end of 
three years many had paid all their indebtedness. 

When the ships Erebus and Terror, in 1839, — the 
same ships in which Sir John sailed later in his last 
expedition to the Arctic Sea, — were sent under Sir 
James Eoss to the Antarctic continent for magnetic ob- 
servations. Sir John rendered very valuable assistance, 
superintending the creation of the magnetic observatory 
in Tasmania, and making many of the observations. 



280 SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS. 

The observatory was later put in charge of Franklin's 
nephew, Lieutenant Kay. 

The Erebus and Terror were absent from England 
four years in the Antarctic seas, making valuable contri- 
butions to our knowledge of that still, for the most part, 
unknown world. The ship Terror was commanded by 
the lamented Captain F. R. M. Crozier. Only a little 
time before she had crossed the ocean under Captain 
Back, still in search of the ISTorth-west Passage, had 
reached Salisbury Island in Hudson's Strait, been frozen 
in off Cape Comfort in Fox Channel, and was driven 
about from September to March, at the mercy of gales 
and ice floes, and finally went back in a sinking condi- 
tion to England where she was thoroughly repaired. 

After being Governor in Tasmania for over six and a 
half years, Franklin returned to England on account of 
jealousies of those under him, and consequent disaffec- 
tion. Some officers had been removed for " obstinacy of 
temper,'' and injustice in police matters, and this also 
caused ill feeling. The greatest crowd ever seen in the 
colony, headed by the Bishop of Tasmania, followed 
him and his family to the ship, and bade him a 
tearful good-by. He was greatly beloved by the people 
of Hobart Town, who have erected a statue in his honor, 
and who gave £1,700 to Lady Franklin to help in the 
search for him after his last Arctic voyage. 

Nearly the whole northern line of seacoast in North 
America had now been surveyed ; and all that was want- 
ing to complete the North-west Passage was a space 
north and south of about three hundred miles between 
Barrow Strait, beyond Lancaster Sound, and Simpson's 
Strait, at the southern extremity of King Wi*lliam 
Island. It was hoped that it was a channel navigable 



SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS. 281 

for si lips, but nobody knew. Franklin used to point on 
the map to Simpson's Strait and say, '' If I can but get 
down there, my work is done ; thence it 's plain sailing 
to the westward,'^ 

When the subject of another Arctic expedition was 
agitated, Sir John asked to lead it, on the ground that 
he was the senior Arctic officer alive who was free to take 
the place, and had explored more in North America than 
any other one persom Lord Haddington, First Lord of 
the Admiralty, remarked to Sir Edward Parry, the navi- 
gator, ^^ Franklin is sixty years okL Ought we to let 
him go ? '' 

^^ My lord," answered Parry, ^^ he is the best man I 
know for the post; and if you don't let him go, he will, 
1 am certain, die of disappointment'' 

Afterward Lord Haddington said to Sir John, that as 
he had already done so nobly for his country, lie might 
be inclined to let a younger man take his place, as he 
was now sixty years of age. 

^^ISTo, my lord," was Franklin's ardent response; '^you 
have been misinformed — I am only fifty -nine ! '^ 

He said also, '' No service is nearer to my heart than the 
completion of the survey of the north coast of America 
and the accomplishment of a north-west passage." 

The ships Erebus and Terror were made ready for the 
voyage, Franklin in command of the Erebus, and his 
■second officer, Captain F. E. M. Crozier, in command of the 
Terror, Commander James Fitzjames was second in 
the Erebus under Franklin. Dr. H. D. S. Goodsir, assist- 
ant surgeon, was an eminent naturalist on the Erebus. 
He succeeded his brother John (Professor of Anatomy 
in the Edinburgh University) in the curatorship of the 
Eoyal College of Surgeons, and resigned to go in the 



282 SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS. 

Erebus for scientific investigation in the Arctic regions. 
His younger brother^ Eobert, twice visited the Polar seas 
in search of his brother^ Dr. Goodsir^ w^ho perished with 
Sir John. 

Captain Crozier, Fellow Royal Society^now forty-eight, 
had been with Parry in three polar voyages, with Sir 
James Ross, both in the Arctic and the Antarctic Seas, 
and was especially skilled in the science of terrestrial 
magnetism. Rear-Admiral McClintock says his '' noble- 
ness of character and warmth of heart had ever w^on for 
him universal esteem and affection.'^ 

Captain Fitzjames, '^ an able, popular, and accomplished 
officer,^' says Captain Markham, had distinguished him- 
self in the Syrian campaign of 1840. In the Chinese 
hostilities of 1842 he Avas five times gazetted for brave 
conduct. He received four bullet wounds at the capture 
of Ching-Kiang-Foo, one bullet passing through his body. 
His sketches and his writings both showed him to be 
a man of marked talent. 

Commander Graham Gore, First Lieutenant of the 
Erebus, was with Admiral Sir George Back in the Arctic 
voyage of the Terror in 1836, and present at the capture 
of Aden in 1839. He Avas even in temper and of great 
stability of character. 

Lieutenant John Irving of the Terror had spent several 
years in Australia, and had served in the navy for sev- 
enteen years. He was a talented draftsman. 

Lieutenant H. T. D. Le Vesconte, of the Erebus, served 
with distinction in the Chinese war, and was made lieu- 
tenant for his bravery. 

Lieutenant Charles F. des Voeux, mate of the Erebus, 
had served in the Syrian war of 1840, under Sir Charles 
Napier. These have been mentioned among other able 



J 



SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS. 283 

officers because their names will appear again in the his- 
tory of the voyage. 

The Erebus and Terror had on board twenty-three 
officers and one hundred and eleven men — in all one 
hundred and thirtj'-four persons. The ships carried pro- 
visions for three years. 

They left England May 19, 1845, all in good spirits. 
Fitzjames wrote home to the son of Sir John Barrow : 
'' Sir John Franklin is delightful, active, and energetic, 
and evidently even now persevering. What he has been 
we all know. I think it will turn out that he is in no 
way altered. He is full of conversation and interesting 
anecdotes of his former voyages. I would not lose him 
for the command of the expedition ; for I have a real 
regard, I might say affection, for him, and believe this is 
felt by all of us.'' 

Again he wrote : " Of all men he is the most fitted 
for the command of an enterprise requiring sound sense 
and great perseverance. I have learnt much from him, 
and consider myself most fortunate in being with such a 
man, and he is full of benevolence and kindness withal.'' 

Later he wrote of Sir John's disbelief in an open Polar 
Sea : " He also said he believed it to be possible to 
reach the pole over the ice, by wintering at Spitzbergen, 
and going in the spring before the ice broke up and 
drifted to the south, as it did witli Parry on it." 

Captain Crozier wrote home, — one of the last letters 
ever received from the expedition, — when they had 
reached the Whale Fish Islands, July 4, near the island 
of Disco, on the west coast of Queenland : " All is get- 
ting on as well as I could wish. Officers full of youth 
and zeal, and, indeed, everything going on most smoothly. 
... If we can do something worthy of the country which 



284 sill JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS. 

has so munificently fitted us out, I will only be too 
happy ; it will be an ample reward for all my anxieties, 
and believe me, Henry, there will be no lack of them/^ 

The ships sailed from the Whale Fish Islands on July 
10. On July 26 they were seen by Captain Dannet, of 
the Prince of Wales, a whaler from Hull, made fast to 
the ice in Melville Bay, on the west coast of Greenland, 
This is the last date on which the ships were ever seen, 
so far as is known. 

They sailed on, as later years have shown by the dis- 
coveries, through Baffin's Bay into Lancaster Sound. 
Unable to go westward into Barrow Strait, probably at 
that time on account of ice, they went northward up 
Wellington ChanneL After going one hundred and fifty 
miles they were compelled to return tlirough a newly 
discovered channel to the west, separating Cornwallis 
and Bathurst Islands, and leading into Barrow Strait. 
They spent the winter on Beechey Island, a little towards 
the east, at the entrance of Wellington Channel. They 
had already explored three hundred miles of new coast- 
line. Three of their men died that winter; and their 
graves, found five years afterwards, revealed the fact 
that they had wintered there. The next summer, 1846, 
they must have pushed their way down Peel Strait, be- 
tween North Somerset and Prince of Wales Land, lead- 
ing towards Simpson's Strait. They passed Boothia 
Felix, and when within twelve miles of King William 
Island, Sept. 12, 1846, both ships were held fast in the 
ice. They spent this winter not so happily as the pre- 
vious one, and the summer of 1847 came ; still the ves- 
sels remained hoplessly beset by the ice. This second 
summer must have been a sad and weary one. 

We now know that on Monday, May 24, 1847, two 



SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHEBS. 285 

officers, Gore and Des Voeux, with six men, left the ships 
to explore the country, and probably went down the west 
coast of King William Island, towards Cape Herschel, 
where they would look upon Simpson's Strait, and know 
that the North-west Passage was found, though their 
ships could not yet sail through the ninety miles of ice 
to the strait. 

Sir John Franklin, the beloved leader, died this sum- 
mer, June 11, 1847. Where he was buried we shall 
never know ; probably a hole was cut in the ice not far 
from the ships, and thither the mourning party bore 
him. 

Sickness and death began now to thin their ranks. 
They hoped that the sun this summer would certainly 
free the ships ; but though it did not, the ice in which 
they were packed began to move toward the south. This 
was indeed comforting, when lo ! as autumn came on, it 
ceased to move, and they were ice-locked as before, per- 
haps not more than sixty miles from the desired haven 
of Simpson's Strait and the I^orth-west Passage. 

The third long winter dragged by. Commander Gore ^ 
and eight other officers died, and twelve men, twenty-one 
in all, so that there were one hundred and five left. 
When spring came they were sure that their only chance 
for life was to abandon the ships, and perhaps reach 
some post of the Hudson Bay Company. 

They left the ships April 22, 1848, and journeyed 
with a couple of boats on sledges, Crozier and Fitzjames 
at the head, to Point Victory, fifteen miles from the 
ships. They were three days in taking this short journey, 
whether from the deep snow or on account of their own 
weak bodies, will never be known. On April 26 they 
started across King William Island, for Back's Great 



286 SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS. 

Fish River. Only their boneSj scattered all over the 
western and southern parts of the island and the adja- 
cent mainland, tell the horrors of that dreadful march, 
one of the saddest stories to be found in history. 

After Franklin and his ships had been absent for two 
years, having left England May 19, 1845, people began 
to be anxious about their safety. It was remembered 
that they had provisions for three years only, and it 
would probably require a year for other ships to reach 
them. 

In the summer of 1847 arrangements were made for 
the Hudson Bay Company to send to their northern- 
most stations food for one hundred and twenty men 
for seventy-five days, so that the crews, if they had 
abandoned their ships, might receive it. Alas ! that it 
had not been pushed forward to where the men were sta- 
tioned, too weak to come to the food. 

In 1849 the government offered a reward of twenty 
thousand pounds to any one of any nation wlio should 
rescue the lost men ; ten thousand pounds to any who 
should rescue a part of them ; or ten thousand pounds 
to any who should ascertain their fate. Lady Franklin 
offered three thousand pounds to anybody who should give 
reliable information concerning them, dead or alive. 

Already relief expeditions had been fitted out; June 
12, 1848, one under Sir James Clarke Eoss, with the 
ships Enterprise and Investigator, to search the north 
and west coasts of North Somerset and Boothia, 
north shore of Barrow Strait, and the shores of Prince 
Eegent Inlet. The first winter, at the juncture of 
Barrow Strait, Lancaster Sound, Prince Eegent Inlet, 
and Wellington Channel, they caught fifty white foxes 
in traps made of empty casks, and putting copper 



SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS. 287 

collars around their necks on wliicli collars the position 
of the relief ship was engraved^ freed them, with the 
hope that some might be caught by the crews of the 
Erebus and Terror. After excursions made all summer, 
without avail, — they were at one time but three hundred 
miles from the point where the Erebus and Terror lay 
abandoned, — a house was built of the spare spars of both 
ships, twelve months' provisions with fuel were left be- 
hind, and a vessel large enough to convey Franklin's 
whole party to some whaling-vessel. 

The ships were now caught in the ice pack, and from 
Sept. 1 to 25 were floated through Lancaster Sound to 
the western shore of Baffin's Bay, when the pack broke 
up, and the men hastened to England, thankful for their 
preservation. 

Sir John Eichardson, who had been with Franklin in 
both his land expeditions, started in 1848 to search the 
coasts of ]^orth America between the Mackenzie and 
Coppermine Elvers, and returned the following year, 
1849, after having left provisions at various points 
though he heard nothing of the lost ships. 

On the return of the Enterprise and the Investigator 
under Sir James Eoss, they were at once refitted and 
sent, under Captain Eichard Collinson and Commander 
Eobert M'Clure (who had served with Back in the Terror 
in 1836), through Bering Strait to investigate WoUaston, 
Victoria and Banks' Lands, and Melville Island. Collin- 
son passed within twenty miles of the Erebus and 
Terror in their ice prison. The Investigator, under 
M'Clure, sailed through Prince of Wales Strait, between 
Banks' Land and Prince Albert Land (wintering in the 
Strait in 1850) into Melville Sound, also round the west 
and north coasts of Banks' Land, through Banks' Strait 



288 SIM JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTIIEliS. 

into Melville Sound. They passed two winters frozen 
into the ice in the Bay of God's Mercy on the northern 
shore of Banks' Land, when they were rescued by a 
sledge party from the Resolute under Captain Austin. 
They abandoned the Investigator, and were taken to 
^England, after a fourth winter in the Arctic regions, by 
the ship Phoenix. They had thus made the north-west 
passage from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean (as 
Melville Sound connects with Barrow Strait). M'Clure 
and his crew received the ten thousand pounds offered 
by the government for the discovery. It was afterwards 
ascertained that Franklin's men actually readied Simp- 
son's Strait; therefore to Franklin has been awarded 
the honor of first discovering the North-west Passage. 

The Eesolute and Assistance, under Captains Austin 
and Ommane}^, respectively, were sent to the shores of 
Wellington Channel and the coasts of Melville, and 
Parry Islands. The latter ship was abandoned ; and the 
former was picked up at sea by Captain James Budding- 
ton of New London, Conn., brouglit to the United States, 
and presented to England by a joint resolution of Con- 
gress, Aug. 28, 1856. The gift was tendered to the 
Queen in person by Captain Hartstene, who afterwards 
rescued Dr. Kane. The different searching parties, 
under Captain Austin, 'examined fifteen hundred miles 
of coast line, of which eight hundred and fifty had not 
been known before. One of the parties, under Lieuten- 
ant Brown, explored the western shore of Peel Strait, 
and was within one hundred and fifty miles of the place 
where the Erebus and Terror were abandoned ; but they, 
of course, did not know that they were on the direct 
route followed by Franklin. It was most unfortunate 
that no cairns — heaps of stones with letters under 



I 



sir, JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS. 289 

tliem — had been placed along tlieir route, else possibly 
their bodies, at least, might have been recovered. 

Several expeditions were fitted out at private expense. 
Admiral Sir John Eoss, then in his seventy -fourth year, 
went out in the Felix, with his own yacht, the Mary, of 
twelve tons, as tender, and searched a portion of Corn- 
wallis Island, west of Wellington Channel. 

Lady Franklin equipped, largely at her own expense, 
the ninety-ton schooner Prince Albert, under Comman- 
der Forsyth, to explore the shores of Prince Regent 
Inlet. They found the inlet blocked with ice, and 
explored the coasts of Prince of Wales Island and 
North Somerset. 

In the autumn of 1850 no less than fifteen vessels, 
besides land expeditions, were searching for Sir John 
Franklin. Interest and anxiety grew to fever heat. 

Lady Franklin, in the spring of the previous year, 
April 4, 1849, had written to President Taylor of the 
United States, asking the American people to join in 
the search for her husband. ^^I address myself,'' she 
wrote, " to you as the head of a great nation, whose 
power to help me I cannot doubt, and in whose disposi- 
tion to do so I have a confidence which I trust you will 
not deem presumptuous. . . I am not without hope that 
you will deem it not unworthy of a great and kindred 
nation to take up the cause of humanity which I 
plead, in a national spirit, and thus generously make it 
your own. . . 

'^ The intense anxieties of a wife and a mother may 
have led me too press too earnestly on ^^our notice the 
trials under which we are suffering, yet not we only, 
but hundreds of others." 

The President and the American people as well were 



290 SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS. 

deeply interested in the noble Franklin. It took prac- 
tical shape in the mind of a wealthy merchant in iS"ew 
York, Henry Grinnell, Esq., at whose home Lady 
Franklin had visited when in America. 

He purchased and fitted ont two vessels, the Advance 
of one hundred and forty-four tons, and the Rescue of 
ninety-one tons ; the former commanded by Lieutenant 
Edward J. De Haven, who had been with Lieutenant 
Wilkes in the United States exploring expedition of 1838 
in the Antarctic Ocean, and the second under Master 
Samuel P. Griffin, both of the United States ISTavy. 

The vessels for the '^ United States Grinnell expedi- 
tion '' sailed from New York May 22, 1850. Before 
sailing, officers and men signed a bond not to claim, 
under any circumstances, the twenty thousand pounds 
offered by the British Government for the finding of 
the Franklin expedition. 

Dr. Elisha Kent Kane, an accomplished naval officer 
and scholar of Philadelphia, at this time thirty years of 
age, was appointed surgeon of the Advance, and on his 
return wrote a most interesting book concerning the 
journey. He had travelled extensively in China, Egypt, 
and various parts of Europe, had rendered valuable 
scientific aid in the United States Coast Survey, and 
was admirably fitted to observe, and to describe what he 
saw. 

After an imprisonment for twenty-one days in the ice 
in Melville Bay, off the west coast of Greenland, where, 
says Kane, ^- Since the year 1819, from which we may 
date the opening of Melville Bay, no less than two 
hundred and ten vessels have been destroyed in attempt- 
ing its passage," they crossed Baffin's Bay. Here Kane 
counted two hundred and eight icebergs within th? 



SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS. 291 

horizon — Sir John E-oss had measured one in this bay 
three hundred and twenty -five feet higli by twelve hundred 
feet long. Kane pushed on into Lancaster Sound as far 
as Wellington Channel, and found oir Cape Riley, Ang. 25, 
1850, two cairns. In one of these cairns was a letter, 
deposited the previous day, stating that Captain Om- 
luaney of the Assistance (in company with Captain 
Griffin of their own consort, the Eescue^ according to 
the official report of De Haven) had discovered traces 
of an encampment on Cape Riley, and at Beechey 
Island, ten miles from Cape Eiley. Tliis was the first 
knowledge obtained concerning the Franklin party, after 
a constant search for three years. 

Dr. Kane carefully examined the indications of an 
encampment at Cape Riley. He found, he says, '' Four 
circular mounds, or heapings-up, of the crumbled lime- 
stone, aided by larger stones placed at the outer edge, 
as if to protect the leash of a tent. ... In a line with 
the four mounds was a larger enclosure, triangular in 
shape. Some bird bones and one rib of a seal were found 
exactly in the centre of this triangle, as if a party had 
sat around it eating ; and the top of a preserved-meat 
case, much rusted, was found in the same place. '^ 

Some twenty or thirty yards from this place " were 
several pieces of pine wood about four inches long, 
painted green and white, and in one instance puttied; 
evidently parts of 'a boat, and apparently collected as 
kindling wood." 

Captain Penny of the ship Lady Franklin, who was 
also searching in Wellington Channel, and Dr. Goodsir, 
the brother of the Erebus surgeon, discovered scraps of 
newspaper, bearing date 1844; and two other fragments, 
each with the name of one of Franklin's officers in pencil j 



292 SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS. 

one name was " McDonald/' assistant surgeon of the Ter- 
ror. Captain Penny's men also found a dredge, " as if 
to fish up missing articles/' some footless stockings, tied 
at tlie lower end to serve for socks, an officer's pocket, 
velvet-lined, torn from the garment, etc. 

Sir John Eoss in the Felix now joined his party, and 
they proposed to search the neighboring country. While 
they were planning, one of Penny's men ran towards 
them exclaiming, '' Graves, Captain Penny ! graves ! 
Franklin's winter quarters ! " 

All hurried over the ice, and on Beecliey Island found 
three graves. The mounds were coped with limestone 
slabs, and there were headstones. They faced towards 
Cape Riley, distinctly visible across the cove. Inscrip- 
tions had been cut with a chisel : the first read : — 

Sacred 

to the 

Memory 

of 

W. Braine, K. M., 

H.M.S. Erebus. 

Died April 3d, 1846, 

Aged 32 years. 

" Clioose ye this day whom ye will serve." 

Joshua, ch. xxiv. 15. 
The second was : — 

Sacred 

to 

the memory 

of 

John Hartwell, A. B. of H. M. S. 

Erebus, 

Aged 23 years. 

** Thus saith the Lord, consider your ways." 

Haggat, i. 7. 



I 



SIB JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS. 293 

The third was inscribed : — 

Sacred 

to 

the iiieraory 

of 

John Toiuungton, 

who departed this life 

January 1st A. d. 1846, 

on board of 

H. M. ship Terror, 

Aged 20 years. 

Near the graves was a piece of wood^ more than a foot 
in diameter, and two feet eight inches high, which had 
evidently been used for an anvil-block. Near it was a 
large blackened space, covered with coal cinders, iron 
nails, spikes, and the like, ^^ clearly the remains of the 
armorer^s forge/' 

About four hundred yards from the graves, Avere 
evidences of an observatory, with large stones fixed as 
if to support instruments ; and a few hundred yards 
lower down the remnant of a garden, "still showing the 
mosses and anemones that were transplanted by its 
f ramers/' A quarter of a mile from this point were more 
than six hundred preserved-meat cans, arranged in order 
and filled with limestone pebbles, perhaps to serve as 
ballast on boating expeditions. 

These tins were labelled " Goldner's patent.'' As an 
enormous quantity of such cans supplied to the navy were 
afterwards found to contain putrid meat, it is probable 
that many of these were useless, and thus the supply of 
food for the three years had been greatly reduced. 

Besides all these, fragments of canoes, rope, tarpau- 
lins, casks, iron-work, '- a blanket lined by long stitches 
with common cotton stuff, and made into a sort of rude 



294 SIR JOHN FB AN KLIN AND OTHERS, 

coat/' a pair of Caslimere gloves, ^^laid out to dry, with 
two small stones upon the palms to keep them from 
blowing away," and other things were found. The 
tracks of a sledge were also clearly defined, pointing 
towards the eastern shores of Wellington Sound, also 
towards Cape Eiley, as though several journeys had 
been taken. 

It is probable that records telling of their journey 
were deposited in the cairns, but none have ever been 
found. 

The ships of De Haven were caught fast in the ice off 
Wellington Channel, and drifted out into Baffin's Bay 
during the winter. They had already sighted and named 
Grinnell Land, to the west of Greenland, which was 
afterwards explored by Captain Nares of England in 
1876, and Greely in 1881-84. The Advance and Eescue 
returned to New York in the fall of 1851. 

The whole world was now more than ever interested 
to learn the fate of Franklin and his men. Dr. Kane 
commanded a second Grinnell expedition in search of 
Franklin, the money being provided from his own means 
and the proceeds of his lectures, assisted with ship and 
money by Mr. Grinnell, and ten thousand dollars from 
Mr. George Peabody of London. The Advance left New 
York Mpty 30, 1853, with seventeen persons on board. 
Aug. 7 Kane reached the headland of Smith's Sound, 
believing that an open polar sea was beyond, and that 
the Franklin party had gone to the far north up the Wel- 
lington Channel. 

Kane and his ship were frozen into the ice in Rens- 
selaer Harbor, off the north-west coast of Greenland, 
where they remained for the winter. The thermometer 
was as low as sixty-eight degrees below zero, and the 



SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS. 295 

whole ship's company suffered from scurvy. More than 
fifty of Kane's valuable dogs died from brain disease. 
He says in his account of the second expedition, Feb. 21, 
^^My dogSj that I had counted on so largely, the nine 
splendid Newfoundlanders and thirty-five Eskimos of 
six months before, had perished ; there were only six sur- 
vivors of the whole pack, and one of these was unfit for 
draught." 

Kane wrote a month before in his journal : " The 
influence of this long, intense darkness was most de- 
pressing. Even our dogs, although the greater part of 
them were natives of the Arctic circle, were unable to 
withstand it." 

Going on deck in the early morning, and feeling his 
way, he said, '^ Two of my Newfoundland dogs put their 
cold noses against my hand, and instantly commenced 
the most exuberant antics of satisfaction. It then oc- 
curred to me how very dreary and forlorn must these 
poor animals be, living in darkness, howling at an acci- 
dental light, as if it reminded them of the moon, and 
with nothing, either of instinct or sensation, to tell them 
of the passing hours, or to explain the long-lost day- 
light. They shall see the lanterns more frequently." 

Eive days later he wrote : ^' The mouse-colored dogs, 
the leaders of my Newfoundland team, have for the 
past fortnight been nursed like babies. No one can 
tell how anxiously I watch them. They are kept 
below, tended, fed, cleansed, caressed, and doctored; 
to the infinite discomfort of all hands. To-day I give 
up the last hope of saving them. Their disease 
is as clearly mental as* in the case of any human 
being." 

Exploring expeditions were sent out from tlie ship. 



296 SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS. 

One of these parties nearly died from cold and exhaus- 
tion, and indeed two of the men, Peter Schubert and Jef- 
ferson Temple Baker died, after being rescued by Kane, 
and all except one suffered for a time from unbalanced 
minds. 

Kane came near losing his own life as well as his dogs 
in one of these various expeditions. The animals fell 
through the ice sixteen feet below him. "The roaring 
of the .tide," he says, " and the subdued wail of the dogs, 
made me fear for the worst. I had to walk through the 
broken ice, which, rose in toppling spires over my head, 
for nearly fifty yards before I found an opening to the 
ice-face, by which I was able to climb down to them. A 
few cuts of a sheath knife released them, although the 
caresses of the dear brutes had like to have been fatal 
to me, for I had to straddle with one foot on the fast ice 
and the other on loose piled rubbish." 

Three expeditions were made during early spring and 
summer towards the north, reaching Cape Constitution in 
Kennedy Channel. 

The killing of a bear by Hans, although necessary for 
food for the men, afforded a touching illustration of the 
fondness of a mother for her cub. " The bear fled," says 
Dr. Kane, " but the little one being unable either to 
keep ahead of the dogs or to keep pace with her, she 
turned back, and, putting her head under its haunches, 
threw it some distance ahead. The cub safe for the 
moment, she would wheel round and face the dogs, so 
as to give it a chance, to run away ; but it always stopped 
just as it alighted, till she came up and threw it ahead 
again ; it seemed to expect her aid, and would not go on 
without it." 

After a mile and a half the little one was so tired that 



SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS. 297 

the mother halted till the men came up to her. ^^ When 
the dogs came near her, she would sit upon her haunches 
and take the little one between her hind legs, fighting 
the dogs with her paws, and roaring so that she could 
have been heard a mile off. She would stretch her neck 
and snap at the nearest dog with her shining teeth, 
whirling her paws like the arms of a windmill." . . . 

Hans shot her, when "the cub jumped upon her body 
and reared up, for the first time growling hoarsely. 
The dogs seemed quite afraid of the little creature, she 
fought so actively and made so much noise." The men 
were obliged to shoot the cub at last, as she would not 
quit the body even when she was dying. 

Gilder, in " Schwatka's Search," tells of a bear carry- 
ing its cub on her back till, being shot, the cub " clung to 
her poor wounded body with touching tenacity. It was 
heart-rending to see him try to cover her body with his 
own little form, and lick her face and wounds, occasion- 
ally rising upon his hind legs and growling a fierce 
warning to his enemies." 

Charles F. Hall, the explorer, tells in his " Second 
Arctic Expedition" a bear story universally believed 
by the Eskimos about Hudson Bay : " Many moons 
ago an Innuit woman obtained a polar bear cub but two 
or three days old. Having long desired just such a pet, 
she gave it her closest attention, as though it were a son, 
nursing it, making for it a soft, warm bed alongside her 
■own, and talking to it as a mother does to her child. 
She had no living relative, and she and the bear occu- 
pied the igloo alone. 

"Koon-ik-jooa, as he grew up, proved that the woman 
had not taught him in vain ; for he early began to hunt 
seals and salmon, bringing them to his mother before 



298 SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS. 

eating any himself^ and receiving his share from her 
hands. She always watched from the hill-top for his 
return ; and if she saw that he had been unsuccessful, she 
begged from her neighbors blubber for his food. She 
learned how this was from her lookout; for if successful, 
he came back in the tracks made on going out, but if 
unsuccessful, always by a different route. 

'^Learning to excel the Innuits in hunting, he excited 
their envy ; and, after long years of faithful service, his 
death was resolved upon. On hearing this, the old 
woman, overwhelmed with grief, offered to give up her 
own life if they would but spare liim who had so long 
supported her. Her offer was sternly refused.'' 

She told the bear what the wicked men were to do, 
and begged him to go away, but not so far that she could 
not come to him for a seal or other meat which she 
would need. 

'^ Not long after this,'' says the story, " being in need 
of food, she walked out on the snow-ice to see if she 
could not meet her son, and soon recognized him as one 
of two bears who were lying down together. He ran to 
her, and she patted him on the head in her old familiar 
way, told him her wants, and begged him to hurry away 
and get something for her. Away ran the bear, and in 
a few moments the woman looked upon a terrible fight 
going on between him and his late companion, which, 
however, to her great relief, was soon ended by her son's 
dragging a lifeless body to her feet. With her pauna 
(long knife) she quickly skinned the dead bear, giving 
her son large slices of the blubber, and telling him that 
she would soon return for the meat which she could not 
at first carry to her igloo, and when her supply should 
again fail she would come back for his help. This she 



I 



SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS. 299 

continued to do for a long, long time, the faithful bear 
always serving her, and receiving the same unbroken 
love of his youth. '^ 

It soon became evident that Kane must pass another 
weary winter frozen in Smithes Sound, in Rensselaer Har- 
bor. '' It is horrible,^^ wrote Kane, — " yes, that is the 
word — to look forward to another year of disease and 
darkness to be met without fresh food and without fuel. 
I should meet it with a more tempered sadness if I had 
no comrades to think for and protect." 

Besides the disease and darkness they had another 
foe. ^^ If I was asked,'^ says Kane, ^^ what, after darkness 
and cold and scurvy, are the three besetting curses of our 
Arctic sojourn, I should say, Rats, Rats, Rats. A 
mother-rat bit my finger to the bone last Friday, as I 
was intruding my hand into a bear-skin mitten which 
she had chosen as a homestead for her little family. I 
withdrew it, of course, with instinctive courtesy ; but 
among them they carried off the mitten before I could 
suck the finger. 

" Last week I sent down Rhina, the most intelligent dog 
of our whole pack, to bivouac in their citadel forward ; I 
thought she might at least be able to defend herself 
against them, for she had distinguished herself in the 
bear-hunt. She slept very well for a couple of hours on 
a bed she had chosen for herself on the top of some iron 
spikes. But the rats could not or would not forego the 
horny skin about her paws ; and they gnawed her feet 
and nails so ferociously that we drew her up yelping and 
vanquished.'' Kane himself used the rats for food, 
and thus prevented frequent attacks of scurvy. 

As winter approached Kane erected a signal beacon, 
or cairn, on Observatory Island, near by, painting in big 



300 SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS. 

letters, on a cliff, the ship's name. Advance. In a hole 
in a rock was placed a record of their journey up to this 
time, enclosed in glass and sealed with melted lead, and 
close by the graves of the two dead seamen. 

The record written Aug. 14, 1854, showed that nine 
hundred and sixty miles of coast-line had been delineated, 
with over two thousand miles of travel, ^' all of which 
was upon foot or by the aid of dogs. . . . Greenland has 
been traced to its northern face, whence it is connected 
with the farther north of the opposite coast of a great 
glacier." 

Seven of the party now left the ship, including Dr. 
Hayes, the leader, with the hope of reaching Upernavik, 
on the west coast of Greenland, directly in the line of the 
Baffin's Bay whalers. After three months they returned, 
having journeyed three hundred and fifty miles with the 
thermometer at fifty degrees below zero, living for some 
weeks in an Eskimo hut in the crevice of a rock, almost 
without fire or light, often for weeks together with noth- 
ing to eat but moss gathered from the snow-covered rocks, 
and finally reached the Advance more dead than alive. 

The second winter on the Advance was a sad one for 
alL The dogs died. Jan. 3 Kane wrote : 

^^ I am feeding up my few remaining dogs very care- 
fully ; but I have no meat for them except the carcasses 
of their dead companions. . . . One of these poor 
creatures has been a child's pet among the Eskimos. 
Last night I found her in nearly a dying state at the 
mouth of our tossut, wistfully eying the crevices of the 
door as they emitted their forbidden treasure of light 
and heat. She could not move, but, completely subdued, 
licked my hand. ... I carried her in among the 
glories of the moderate paradise she aspired to.'^ 



SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS. 301 

Tlie supply of food was nearly exhausted. Twice with 
the greatest suffering and with five half-starved dogs 
" hardly able to drag themselves/^ they attempted to 
reach the nearest Eskimo settlement at Etah, ninety 
miles away, to obtain meat, but failed. All the party 
were ill save five men. " Our sick are worse/' Kane 
writes in his journal. " Hemorrhages are becoming com- 
mon. My crew, — I have no crew any longer, — the ten- 
ants of my bunks, cannot bear me to leave them for a 
single watcli.'' 

Two rabbits were killed by Kane and the Eskimo 
Hans Christian (a youth of nineteen who had embarked 
with Kane from Greenland). These rabbits were the first 
meat they had had in ten days, and were eaten raw. In 
February a deer was caught, and thankfully devoured. 
March 6 Hans started for the Eskimo settlement, 
but found them in a starving condition, having killed 
and eaten all of their thirty dogs except four. 

This condition of things is not very infrequent, as the 
Eskimos are improvident. Kane tells of an Eskimo 
camp found in 1830 by some boat-crews from a whaler. 
Everything seemed deserted. Looking into the huts, 
they found '' grouped around an oilless lamp, in the atti- 
tudes of life, four or five human corpses with darkened 
lips and sunk'en eyeballs, but all preserved in perennial 
ice. The frozen dog lay beside his frozen master, and 
the child, stark and stiff, in the reindeer hood which envel- 
oped the frozen mother.'' 

Hans with one of the Etah hunters killed a large 
walrus, thus providing meat for them as well as for the 
starving crew at Eensselaer Harbor. With the close of 
April, Kane made his last effort to explore Kennedy 
Channel, and pushed up far enough to see the great 
glacier, stretching towards the north and east. 



802 SIB JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS. 

Towards the close of May, 1855, Kane and his men 
said good-by to the ship fast in ice, nine feet thick and 
with two whale boats, Hope and Faith, each twenty-four 
feet long, drawn on sledges eighteen feet long, and one 
smaller boat, they commenced their journey down the 
frozen coast of Greenland. Four men were unable to 
move. Dr. Kane drove the dog team, and twelve men 
drove the sledges. 

Their condition was pitiable. Once they were on the 
point of killing two of their valuable dogs, to preserve 
their lives. Christian Ohlsen, aged thirty-six, died on 
the journey. One boat was necessarily used for fuel. 

After eighty -three days of a most perilous journey, 
they arrived at Upernavik, Greenland, and were taken 
on board the Danish ship Mariane, which touch-ed at God- 
havn, prior to landing them at the Shetland Islands. 

On the evening of July 11, the day on which they 
were starting for Europe, a steamer drew near, and they 
recognized the beloved stars and stripes. The boat Faith 
was lowered from the Mariane, — Kane was carrying her 
home to America as a precious token of their preserva- 
tion, — and in her they went out to meet Captain Hart- 
stene of the ships Release and Arctic, sent out by the 
United States from New York, May 31, 1855, to rescue 
Kane if yet alive. Hartstene had volunteered for the 
service, and nobly wrote to the Secretary of our Navy : 
^^To avoid further risk of human life in a search so 
extremely hazardous, I would suggest the impropriety of 
making any efforts to relieve us if we should not return.'' 

Hartstene had searched all summer for the missing 
party, going within thirty miles of Eensselaer Harbor, 
and on their journey southward learned from the Eski- 
mos at Etah that Kane was still alive. 



SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS. 803 

Dr. Kane reached New York Oct. 11, 1855. He 
prepared his narrative of the journey for the press, the 
sales of the book the first year reaching sixty-five 
thousand copies. He wrote to his friend and publisher, 
George W. Childs : ^^ The book, poor as it is, has been my 
coffin.'' 

He was urged to undertake another journey, but his 
broken health was against it. His mother also opposed 
it. He said, " Other persuasion I can resist, but this 
settles the question.'' 

He received many rewards from both Great Britain and 
America. The queen's medal was struck for both the 
officers and men of the Advance, and the British govern- 
ment presented Mr. Grinnell with a large and costly 
silver vase. Kane received the medal of the London 
Society from Admiral Beechey, K-. IST. ; but that of the 
Paris Society came too late, for he died at Havana, Cuba, 
Feb. 10, 1857, at the age of thirty-seven. His mother 
was at his bedside and read to him the Bible, accord- 
ing to his often-made request, or repeated to him such 
verses as '^ The Lord is my Shepherd," or '' Let not your 
heart be troubled." 

He died as he had lived, in faith and hope, the words 
he had characteristically given to his boats. He said 
in his Narrative : '^ I never lost my hope. ... I never 
doubted for an instant that the same Providence which 
had guarded us through the long darkness of winter was 
still watching over us for good, and that it was yet in 
reserve for us — for some: I dared not hope for all — 
to bear back the tidings of our rescue to a Christian 
land." 

Kane's body lay in state at Independence Hall, Phila- 
delphia, and was buried with distinguished honors. 



304 SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS. 

Now that it was known that Franklin had spent 
first winter on Beechey Island^ and chat three graves of 
his men had been found there, Lady Franklin could not 
rest until a further search was undertaken. 

As soon as the Prince Albert returned with the infor- 
mation, she was re-equipped by Lady Franklin and sent 
out in 1851, under command of Captain Kennedy, to 
explore Prince Eegent Inlet, as this inlet had been 
blocked with ice when the Prince Albert attempted pre- 
viously to explore it. Under Kennedy was Lieutenant 
Bellot of France, who volunteered for the service ; but he 
was drowned while leading a sledge party in Wellington 
Channel, Aug. 17, 1853. Kennedy made the complete 
circuit of North Somerset. 

Lady Franklin fitted out the steamer Isabel, under 
Commander Inglefield, in the autumn of 1852, which 
returned after having sailed to the head of Baffin's Bay. 
Several other ships of search were sent out in the years 
1853-54. 

Dr. John Eae, under the Hudson Bay Company, had in 
1846-47 explored from Fort Churchill on the west coast 
of Hudson Bay to the Gulf of Boothia, and later, the 
coasts of Wollaston and Victoria Lands. In 1853 he was 
sent around Committee Bay, at the lower part of Boothia 
Gulf and to the coasts of Boothia Isthmus. 

He wintered in Eepulse Bay, south of Melville Penin- 
sula and of Committee Bay, and in the spring of 1854 
commenced his explorations. On April 20, 1854, he 
met some Eskimos in Pelly Bay, in the western part of 
Boothia Gulf, from whom he obtained some articles 
which belonged to Franklin and his men. From them 
he obtained the following information, as given in his 
official report to the admiralty : '^ In the spring four 



^IR JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS, 305 

Winters past (spring, 1850) [probably 1848] a party of 
^ white men/ amounting to about forty, were seen travel- 
ling southward over the ice and dragging a boat with 
them, by some Eskimos who were killing seals near the 
north shore of King William Land, which is a large 
island. None of the party could speak the Eskimo 
language intelligibly, but by signs the natives were 
made to understand that their ship, or ships, had been 
crushed by the ice, and that they were now going to 
where they expected to find deer to shoot. Erom the 
appearance of the men, all of whom except one oificer 
looked thin, they were then supposed to be getting 
short of provisions, and purchased a small seal from the 
natives. 

'* At a later date the same season, but previous to the 
breaking-up of the ice, the bodies of some thirty per- 
sons were discovered on the continent, and five on an 
island near it, about a long day's journey to the north- 
west of a large stream, which can be no other than 
Back's Great Eish River. . . . Some of the bodies had 
been buried (probably those of the first victims of the 
famine), some were in a tent or tents, others under 
the boat, which had been turned over to form a shelter, 
and several lay scattered about in different directions. 
Of those found on the island one was supposed to have 
been an officer, as he had a telescope strapped over his 
shoulders, and his double-barrelled gun lay underneath 
iiim. 

" Erom the mutilated state of many of the corpses 
and the contents of the kettles, it is evident that our 
wretched countrymen had been driven to the last 
resource — cannibalism — as a means of prolonging 
existence. 



306 SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS. 

^^ There appeared to have been an abundant stock of 
ammunition, as the powder was emptied in a heap on 
the ground by the natives out of the kegs or cases con- 
taining it, and a quantity of ball and shot was found 
below high-water mark, having probably been left on the 
ice close to the beach. There must have been a number 
of watches, compasses, telescopes, guns (several double- 
barrelled), etc., all of which appear to have been broken 
up, as I saw pieces of those different articles with the 
Eskimos, together with some silver spoons and forks. I 
purchased as many as I could get. . . . 

"None of the Eskimos with whom I conversed had 
seen the ^ whites,' nor had they ever been at the place 
where the bodies were found, but had their information 
from those who had been there, and who had seen part 
of the party when travelling." 

The government award of £10,000 was given to Dr. 
Eae for his discovery, though Lady Franklin was not 
satisfied, as nothing very definite was yet known con- 
cerning Franklin and the ships. The government now 
ceased its efforts, as by this time, says Mr. A. H. Beesly, 
in his life of Franklin, about £800,000 had been ex- 
pended in ships, etc., for the Franklin search. About 
4,300 miles had been sledged. Lieutenant M'Clintock 
estimates the amount expended by England in the 
Franklin search as £982,000, while the United States 
spent a quarter of a million dollars. 

Lady Franklin had already sent out four ships largely 
at her own expense ; and now she sent out another 
almost entirely at her own cost, the steam yacht Fox, of 
177 tons, — paying £2,000 for her, — Captain M'Clintock 
com.manding. Associated with him were Lieutenant 
Hobson, H. N., and Captain Allen Young, who not only 



SIE JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS. 307 

offered his services gratuitously, but .contributed largely 
from his own private fortune towards the expenses of 
the expedition. Provisions were taken for two years 
and four months. Captain M'Clintock went without 
instructions other than as Lady Franklin said, to re- 
cover, if possible, ^^some of the unspeakably precious 
documents of the expedition, public and private, and the 
personal relics of my dear husband and his companions.'' 
Lady Franklin wrote M'Clintock ; 

^^It will be yours [the honor] as much if you fail 
(since you may fail in spite of every effort) as if you 
succeed ; and be assured that, under any and all circum- 
stances whatever, such is my unbounded confidence in 
you, you will possess and be entitled to the enduring 
gratitude of your sincere and attached friend, 

Jane Franklin. 

Carl Petersen, the Eskimo interpreter for Captain 
Penny and Dr. Kane, went with them. 

The Fox left Aberdeen July 1, 1857, and was frozen 
in the pack in Melville Bay off the coast of Greenland 
by the middle of August. She was beset for 242 days, 
drifting southward, and carried 1,194 geographical miles, 
or 1,381 statute miles, before she was released from the 
ice, April 25, 1858. 

In the beginning of winter, Dec. 4, occurred txie first 
burial from the ship. A hole had been cut in the ice, 
and the body was drawn on a sledge by the men. ''' What 
a scene it was ! I shall never forget it,'' writes Sir F. 
Leopold M'Clintock in his " Voyage of the Fox : " " The 
lonely ' Fox ' almost buried in snow, completely isolated 
from the habitable world, her colors half-mast high, and 
bell mournfully tolling; our little procession slowly 



308 SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS. 

marching over tlie rough surface of the frozen deep 
guided by lanterns and direction-posts, amid the dreary 
darkness of an Arctic winter; the death-like stillness 
around, the intense cold, and the threatening aspect of 
a murky, overcast sky ; and all this heightened by one 
of those strange lunar phenomena which are but seldom 
seen even here, a complete halo encircling the moon, 
through which passed a horizontal band of pale light 
that encompassed the heavens ; above the moon appeared 
the segments of two other halos, and there were also 
mock moons, or paraselense, to the number of six. . . . 

" Scarcely had the Burial Service been completed when 
our poor dogs, discovering that the ship was deserted, set 
up a most dismal, unearthly moaning, and continued it 
till we returned on board." 

After her release from the ice the Fox sailed north- 
ward again through Melville Bay, and into Lancaster 
sound to Beechey Island. Here M'Clure erected a mar- 
ble monument which had been sent to the Polar regions 
by Lady Eranklin. Lieutenent Hartstene, when in his 
search for Kane, carried the monument, but he was pre- 
vented by the ice from reaching Beechey Island. On the 
stone are the words : — 

To the memory of 

FRAlSTKLIISr, 

Crozier, Fitzjames, 

and all their 

gallant brother officers and faithful 

companions who have suffered and perished 

in the cause of science 

and the service of their country. 

This Tablet 

is erected near the spot where 

they passed their first Arctic 



SIB JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS 309 

winter, and whence they issued 

forth to conquer difficulties or 

To Die. 

It commemorates the grief of the 

admiring countrymen and friends, 

and the anguish, subdued by faith, 

of her who has lost, in the heroic 

leader of the expedition, the most 

devoted and affectionate of 

husbands. 

** And so He bringeth them into the 

haven where they would be." 

1855. 

Aug. 16, 1858, the Fox sailed from Beechey Island 
up Prince Regent Inlet towards Bellot Strait named 
after the dead French officer, vs^hich separates north 
Somerset and Boothia. After being nearly shipwrecked 
the party wintered in Port Kennedy, at the eastern end 
of the strait. During the winter they made ready for 
the sledge journeys in various directions in the spring. 

On Feb. 17 M'Clintock set off toward the west of 
Boothia with two men and two sledges drawn by fifteen 
dogs. 

M'Clintock says of his dog-team: "They bit through 
their traces, and hid away under the sledge, or leaped 
over one another's backs, so as to get into the middle of 
the team out of the way of my whip, while the traces 
became plaited up, and the dogs were almost knotted 
together ; the consequence was, I had to halt every few 
minutes, pull off my mits, and, at the risk of frozen 
hands, disentangle the lines. . . . Their strength and 
endurance are astonishing. When an Eskimo dog feels 
the whip, he usually bites his neighbor ; the bite is 
passed along to the next, and a general fight and howl- 
incj match ensues." 



310 SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS. 

When a dog-sledge is stopped by the rough ice or 
deep snow, " the dogs/' said McClintockj " instead of 
exciting themselves, lie down, looking perfectly delighted 
at the circumstance." 

The cold was intense, 42^° below zero. On March 1 
they reached the supposed position of the magnetic pole, 
and soon met four Eskimos returning home from a 
seal-hunt. 

One of the Eskimos wore a naval button, and when 
asked where he obtained it, he said, '^ from some white 
people who were starved upon an island where there are 
salmon (that is, in a river) ; and that the iron of which 
their knives were made came from the same place. 
One of these men said he had been to the island to obtain 
wood and iron, but none of them had seen the white 
men.'^ 

The entire Eskimos village, about forty-five persons, 
near Cape Victoria, came out to see M'Clintock in the 
morning. The Englishmen purchased all the relics of 
Franklin which they could find: six silver spoons and 
forks, the property of Sir John Franklin, Lieutenant 
H. T. D. Le Vesconte, J. W. Fairholme, and Lieutenant 
Edward Couch — supposed from the initial C. and crest, 
a lion's head ; also a silver medal belonging to A. 
McDonald, assistant surgeon of the Terror, obtained as a 
prize at a medical examination in Edinburgh, April, 1838, 
part of a gold watch-chain, seven knives, and bows and 
arrows made by the natives out of materials obtained 
from the ships, and several other things. A spear-staff 
measuring six feet and three inches, with head of steel, 
the natives said they got from a boat in the Great Fish 
River. 

One of the Eskimos told Petersen, the interpreter, 



SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS. 311 

that "a ship having three masts had been crushed by the 
ice out in the sea to the west of King William Island, 
but that all the people landed safely ; he was not one of 
those who were eye-witnesses of it ; the ship sank, so 
nothing was obtained by the natives from her." 

The Eskimos were eager to barter with M'Clin- 
tock, for knives, needles, scissors, and beads. One woman 
took a naked infant by the arm from the fur hood 
where she carried it on her back, and holding it toward 
• M'Clintock, with the thermometer at sixty degrees 
below freezing point, begged for a needle for her baby. 
M'Clintock says he gave her a needle "as expeditiously 
as possible." One of the natives offered Lieutenant 
Peary, when in Greenland, his wife and two children for a 
knife, which generous proposition the officer was obliged 
to decline. M'Clintock returned to his ship, after twenty- 
live days, having made a sledge journey of four hundred 
and twenty English miles. 

Encouraged now with the hope of finding more relics 
of Franklin, two sledge parties started out, one under 
Captain M'Clintock, and the other under Lieutenant 
Hobson. The load for each man to drag was about two 
hundred pounds, and for each dog one hundred pounds. 

After several days jonrneying they met the same Es- 
kimo whom they had seen before at Cape Victoria. 
They now heard from the natives that '^two shijys had 
been seen off King William Island; one of them was 
seen to sink in deep water, . . . but the othei' was forced 
on shore by the ice, where they suppose she still 
remains, but is much broken. Oot-loo-lik is the name 
of the place where she grounded . . . [thirty or forty 
miles south-west from Cape Herschel]. . . . The body of 
a man was found on board the ship ; a very large man, and 



312 SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS. 

had long teeth. In the fall of the year the boats were 
destroyed — that is August or September — all the white 
people went away to the ' large river/ taking a boatf or 
boatSj with them, and in the following winter their bones 
were found there." 

At Cape Victoria the two leaders separated, M'Clin- 
tock taking the east coast of King William Island for 
search, and Hobson the west. On the east shore of the 
island, near Cape Norton, M'Clintock met thirty or forty 
natives from whom he purchased two tablespoons, with 
W. W. on one and W. G. on the other, with Franklin's 
crest upon them, and four other pieces of silver plate 
bearing the initials or crests of Franklin, Crozier, Fair- 
holme, and McDonald; also bows and arrows of English 
woods, and uniform and other buttons. . . . The silver 
spoons and forks were readily sold for four needles 
each." The Eskimos offered them a heavy sledge, 
probably made from the ships, but this the white men 
could not carry. 

The Eskimos said ^^ There had been maiiy hooks, but 
all have long ago been destroyed by the weather." One 
woman and boy had visited the wreck during the pre- 
ceding winter, that is 1857-58. She said, " Many of the 
white men dropped by the way as they went to the Great 
Eiver." 

May 12 M'Clintock and his party encamped upon the 
ice in the mouth of Back's Great Fish Elver, and a little 
later on Montreal Island, farther up the river. Here 
they found " a piece of a preserved-meat tin, two pieces 
of iron hoop, some scraps of copper, and an iron hook- 
bolt," which had probably been brought there from the 
ship. The thermometer was now at zero, and the land was 
covered with snow. Here they shot a hare and a brace of 



t 



SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS, 313 

willow-grouse, showing that at this season of the year 
there was very little fresh meat to be obtained for food. 

They crossed over to the mainland, Adelaide Penin- 
sula, and then back to King William Island, along the 
southern shore. They found a cairn nearly five feet 
liigh, appearing to be of recent construction, but noth- 
ing within it. If there had been papers, they were 
destroyed. 

Shortly after midnight of May 25, nine miles east of 
Cape Herschel, near the beach, which the winds kept 
partially bare from snow, they found a human skeleton, 
the bare skull showing above the snow, with here and 
there some fragments of clothing appearing through the 
snow, the tie of a black silk neckerchief, pieces of a blue 
waistcoat, silk-covered buttons of a blue cloth great-coat, 
clothes-brush, comb, and pocket-book. In the comb were 
some light brown hairs. 

The bleached skeleton was lying upon its face towards 
the Great Fish Eiver, " the limbs and smaller bones either 
dissevered or gnawed away by small animals,'' The 
man was slightly built. The pocket-book was opened, 
when it could be thawed, and found to contain eight 
letters or papers with Henry Peglar's name on several. 

One thing was now proved ; viz., that some of the 
Franklin party had reached the lower part of King 
William Island, and liad seen for themselves the North- 
west Passage, through Simpson's Strait. 

At Cape Herschel was a large cairn erected in 1839, 
but which, by the appearance of the stones, had recently 
been partially torn dovv^n as if somebody had been seek- 
ing for things deposited therein. M'Clintock felt sure 
that some most valuable documents must have been left 
here by the retreating party. 



314 SIE JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHEBS. 

About twelve miles beyond Cape Herschel M'CIin- 
tock found a small cairn built by Hobson, and a note 
within it^ stating that he had found the record^ so long 
eagerly sought, at Point Victory, on the north-west 
coast of King William Land. The cairn, \vhich had 
been live or six feet high, had partially fallen down, 
and the record in a tin cylinder was found on the ground 
among some loose stones. 

This was the sad record : — 

'' 28th of May, 1847. H. M. ships Erebus and Terror 
wintered in the ice in lat. 70^ 05' N., long. 98° 23' W. 
Having wintered in 1846-47 [they meant 1845-46] at 
Beechey Island, in lat. 74^ 43' 28'' K Long. 91° 39' 
15" W., after having ascended Wellington channel to 
lat. 77°, and returned by the w^est side of Cornwallis 
Island. 

Sir John Franklin commanding the expedition. 

All well 

Party consisting of 2 olKcers and 6 men left the ship 
on Monday, 24th May, 1847. 

Gra. Gore, Lieut, 
Chas. F. Des Vceux, Mate:' 

It is probable that they went to Cape Herschel to see 
for themselves the North-west Passage. 

Nearly a year after this, around the margin of the 
record, these words were faintly traced : — 

^- April 25, 1848: H. M. ships Terror and Erebus were 
deserted on the 22d April, five leagues N. N. W. of this, 
having been beset since 12th September, 1846. The 
officers and crews, consisting of 105 souls, under the com- 
mand of Captain F. E. M. Crozier, landed here in lat. 
69° 37' 42" N., long, 98° 41' W. Sir John Franklin died 



SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS. ' 315 

on the 11th of June, 1847 ; and the total loss by deaths 
in the expedition has been to this date 9 officers and 15 
men. 

F. E. M. Crozier, James Fitzjames, 

Captain and Senior officer, Captain H, M, S. Erehus, 

and start on to-morrow 26th 
for Back's Fish River. 

The paper was written by Fitzjames, save the signa- 
tures, and the line stating where they were going. So 
sad and so concise a record is seldom found: their 
leader Sir John dead; the last hopeless winter taking 
away twenty-one of their number, Graham Gore among 
them ; and the remaining one hundred and five starting 
away so early in the season on a journey w^hich promised 
little else save death by starvation. 

M'Clintock journeyed on up the west coast of King 
William Land, naming the extreme point Cape Crozier, 
and soon after saw a large boat, which had been seen 
also by Hobson. It measured 28 feet long, and 7 feet 3 
inches wide, evidently intended for the Great Fish 
Eiver. It was mounted upon a sledge, the whole weigh- 
ing about 1,400 pounds. 

Within the boat were portions of two skeletons, one 
of a slight young person in the bow of the boat much 
devoured by wolves, perhaps, and the other of a large, 
strongly made, middle-aged man, lying across the boat in 
the stern, enveloped with clothes and furs. Close beside 
the latter were found five watches — one watch bore the 
crest of Lieutenant Couch — and two double-barrelled 
gans, one barrel in each loaded and cocked, the other hav- 
ing for some reason been discharged — standing muzzle 
upwards against the boat's side as if ready to shoot game. 



316 . SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS, 

Quantities of clothing were found in the boat, besides 
seven or eight pairs of boots of various kinds, several 
silk handkerchiefs, towels, brushes, needle and thread 
cases, several small books, all Scriptural, except the 
'^ Vicar of Wakefield," a Bible much interlined, a prayer- 
book, forty pounds of chocolate, an empty pemican can, 
which would hold twenty-two pounds (it was marked E., 
and probably belonged to the Erebus), eleven large silver 
spoons, the same number of forks, and four teaspoons, 
all marked with the initials or crests of nine different 
officers. 

The boat was pointed towards the north-east, that is, 
towards the abandoned ships; so it seems probable that, 
unable to proceed towards the Fish Eiver, some of the 
men, hoping against hope, determined to go back and 
try to subsist till deliverance might come from some 
source. These two were probably left till the rest 
could go back to the ship and then rescue them. 

The boat was about sixty-four miles from the ships, 
and seventy miles from the place where M^Clintock 
had found the first skeleton. 

When M'Clintock reached Point Victory, he found a 
great quantity of things which the crews had evidently 
been unable to carry after the journey of fifteen miles : 
four sets of boats, cooking-stoves, shovels, a small case 
of medicines, brass plate of a wooden gun-case, engraved 
C. H. Osmer, E. N. (the purser of the Erebus), bar mag- 
netSj a small sextant marked Frederic Hornby, a mate 
of the Terror (presented in later years by his brother. 
Admiral Hornby, to Lieutenant Wyatt Eawson, who fell 
at the battle of Tel-el-Kebir), and a huge pile of clothing 
and blankets four feet high. From this point M'Clintock 
returned to his ship. Allen Young also made a perilous 



SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS. 317 

and most interesting sledge journey around Prince of 
Wales Land. 

Hobson spent thirty-one days on the desolate west 
shore of King William Island. Besides the record and 
clothing at Point Victory and the boat with skeletons, 
Hobson found clothes, three small tents, and other 
things at Cape Felix, the northern extremity of the 
island. During the whole month he shot but one bear 
and four willow-grouse. One wolf and a few foxes were 
seen. '^ One fox/' says M'Clintock, " was either so des- 
perately hungry, or so charmed with the rare sight of 
animated beings, that he played about the party until the 
dogs snatched him up, although in harness and dragging 
the sledge at the time." 

M'Clintock says nothing can exceed the gloom and 
desolation of the west coast of the island. Hobson was 
so afflicted with scurvy that he was unable to stand when 
he reached the ship. The scarcity of fresh food attain- 
able, and the fact that no preserved meat or vegetable 
tins were found about the cairns or along the march of 
the Franklin crew, " makes the inference," as M'Clin- 
tock says, " as plain as it is^painful ! " Scurvy and want 
probably did their fatal work quickly. 

The Fox and her brave and successful men reached 
Godhavn, Greenland, Aug. 26, 1859. They parted with 
regret from the Eskimo guides, who said they had 
been treated "all the same as brothers." The dogs they 
gave to those whom they felt would treat them kindly, 
but the poor creatures acted as though the ship was their 
home. " They ran round the harbor to the point nearest 
the ship," says M'Clintock, " and there, upon the rocks, 
spent the whole period of our stay. As we sailed slowly 
out of the harbor they ran along the rocks abreast of the 



318 SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS. 

ship to the outermost extreme, howling most piteously ; 
even when far out at sea we could still hear their plain- 
tive chorus.'' 

The ship reached England, Sept. 23, 1859. Govern- 
ment voted M'Clintock and his men five thousand pounds, 
and also voted two thousand pounds for a monument in 
Waterloo Place with the following inscription : — 

FEANKLIN. 

To the great navigator 

and his brave companions 

who sacrificed their Hves in 

completing the discovery of 

the North-west Passage 

A. D. 1847-48. 

Erected by the unanimous vote of Parliament. 

M'Clintock received the freedom of the city of London 
for his discoveries, the gold medal of the Eoyal Geograph- 
ical Society, honorary degrees from different universities, 
and knighthood from Queen Victoria. 

There were some persons i^vho believed that a portion 
of the Franklin party might yet be alive, or, as King 
William Island had been searched when covered with 
snow, more traces of the dead might be discovered when 
the land was bare. 

One person, toiling at his trade, that of engraver, in 
the city of Cincinnati, 0., for nine long years, from the 
day Lieutenant De Haven went out in the Advance, 
in 1850, to the return of Captain M'Clintock in the Fox, 
1859, was using every spare moment in the study of Arc- 
tic research, and thinking what could be done for the 
rescue of Franklin. 



SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS. 319 

Charles Francis Hall was without means ; but he had 
untiring perseverance and energy, faith in his mission, 
for he believed that he was called to the work, and an 
unfailing trust in Providence, Through obstacles almost 
insurmountable, visiting and talking with prominent 
men, explaining his plans to this and that learned 
society, neglecting his business for the one purpose of 
his life, he finally obtained money to build a boat, one 
sledge, to procure twelve hundred pounds of pemican, a 
few instruments, and other stores. 

The firm of Williams & Haven of New London, Conn., 
offered to take him and his outfit, free of charge, in one 
of their vessels, the George Henry, to the vicinity of 
Frobisher Bay, north of Hudson's Strait, and from there 
with his boat and the native helpers he intended to make 
his way to King William Land and the adjoining coun- 
try. He took with him from the United States, May 29, 
1860, an Eskimo interpreter, Kudlago, whom Captain 
Budington of the George Henry had brought back on a 
previous voyage. 

In crossing the Banks of Newfoundland Kudlago took 
a severe cold, and failed rapidly. An eider-duck was 
shot for him, but he could eat only a small portion, the 
heart and liver, botb raw. He longed to get home, and 
asked frequently, ^^ Teek-ko se-ko ? teek-ko se-ko ? " — 
Do you see ice ? do you see ice ? He died Sunday morn- 
ing, near the coast of Greenland, about three hundred 
miles from his home, asking pitifully at the last, '' Do 
you see ice ? " He was buried at sea. 

When the ship reached her anchorage, and Kudlago's 
family came to meet him, there was deep sorrow. As 
the wife '^looked at us," says Hall, ^^and then at the 
chest where Kudlago had kept his things, and which 



820 SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS. 

Captain Budington now opened, the tears flowed faster 
and faster, showing that nature is as much susceptible 
of all the softer feelings among these children of the 
North as with us in the warmer South. But her grief 
could hardly be controlled when the treasures Kudlago 
had gathered in the States for her and his little girl were 
exhibited. She sat herself down upon the chest, and 
pensively bent her head in deep, unfeigned sorrow." 

Hall lost his expedition boat on Frobisher Bay, which 
loss was a severe blow. His original plans of going to 
King William Island were therefore given up; but he 
lived among the Eskimos for more than two years, 
studying their customs and language, making sledge 
journeys, discovering relics of the expedition of Sir Mar- 
tin Frobisher, three hundred years before, ever having 
in mind the one purpose in the future to search for 
the lost men of the Erebus and Terror. 

Hall ascertained that '' Frobisher's Strait '^ was not a 
strait, but a bay. On his return to America, Sept. 13, 1862, 
he brought with him two valuable Eskimo helpers 
Ebierbing (Joe) and Too-koo-litoo, his wife (Hannah), 
who had lived twenty months in England, and spoke 
English well. 

He at once began preparations for a second expedi- 
tion, lecturing to earn money, putting forth almost 
superhuman energy to interest the country in the enter- 
prise. In his private note-books were found underscored 
such sentences as these : ^' Our greatest glory consists 
not in falling, but in rising every time we fall." ^^The 
question is not the number of facts a man knows, but 
how much of a fact he is himself." 

Mr. Henry Grinnell had already given a hundred and 
fifty thousand dollars for Arctic research, and had met 



SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS. 321 

with losses. The nation was engaged in the Civil War, 
and money was not at hand for the enterprise. Hall 
therefore again accepted the courtesy of Mr. E-. H. 
Chapell of the lirm of Williams & Haven, New London, 
and tooli free passage for himself, his native helpers, and 
his boat, twenty-eight feet long, in the whaler Monticello, 
July 1, 1864. 

The ship landed at Depot Island in the southern 
part of Sir Thomas Eowe^s Welcome, north of Hud- 
son's Bay, and here Hall began his five years of life among 
the Eskimos, living with them in their Igloos, or 
snow huts, eating their raw food, becoming their friend 
and confidant, and learning all he could of the Franklin 
party. 

Kow they shot a walrus weighing two thousand two 
hundred pounds, and now a seal, after watching whole 
nights near the seal-hole in the ice to spear it when 
it came up to breatlie. He heard from the Eski- 
mos near Depot Island that two ships were lost some 
years before, a^id the Koh-ht-nas (white men) were 
starved or frozen, all but four. Captain Crozier and three 
others, who passed a winter with the tribe with whom 
Hall was staying. " Crozier and the three men with him 
were very hungry," the Eskimos told Hall, as Pro- 
fessor Nourse relates in HalPs " Second Arctic Expedi- 
tion,'' published by the Senate of the United States in 
1879. ^^ Crozier, though nearly starved and very thin, 
would not eat a bit of the Kob-lu-nas (the bodies of 
white men) ; he waited till an Innuit who was with him 
and the three men caught a seal, and then Crozier only 
ate one mouthful, one little bit first time. Next time 
Crozier ate of the seal, he took a little largei' piece, 
thoucjh that was a little bit too. One man of the whole 



822 SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS. 

number four died because he was sick. The others all 
lived and grew fat, and finally Crozier got one Innuit 
with his kayak to accompany him and the two men in 
trying to get to the Koh-lii-nas country by travelling to 
the southward." 

The Eskimos said that Crozier and one of the men 
reached Chesterfield Inlet, on the west of Hudson's Bay, 
and visited the natives there, and were trying to reach 
Fort Cliurchill or Yorlc Factory lower down on the bay. 
Before they reached the Great Fish Eiver Franklin's 
men had a fight with the Indians, — not the Eskimos, 
— and several Indians were killed, but no whites. 

The Eskimos became good friends to Hall, loaned 
him their dogs, and in every way tried to help the 
search. In the spring of 1866, after w^intering at Fort 
Hope, where Dr. Eae's headquarters were, at the north- 
east corner of Repulse Bay, Hall started toward King 
William Island. About six miles above Cape Weynton, 
on Committee Bay, at the lower part of Boothia Gulf, he 
met some Eskimos whose chief gave Hall two spoons, 
wliich he said were given him by Aglooka (Crozier) ; on 
one were the letters, F. E/. M. C. Tlie wife of the chief 
had a silver watch case. Tlie natives told Hannah, the 
Eskimos, that they had been alongside the ships ; had 
seen the great Eshemutta (Franklin). " This Eshemutta 
was an old man with broad shoulders, gray hair, full 
face, and bald head. He was always wearing something 
over his eyes" (spectacles, Hannah said). ^^He was 
quite lame and sicli when they last saw him. He was 
always very kind, Avanted them to eat constantly, very 
cheerful and laughing ; everybody liked him. . . . The 
ship was crushed by the ice. While it was sinking the 
men worked for their lives, but before they could get much 



SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS. 823 

out from the vessel she sank. For this reason Aglooka 
(Crozier) died of starvation, for he could not get provis- 
ions to carry with him on his land journey." 

The Eskimos further said that for a long time they 
feared to go on the other ship. But on seeing one man 
alive on her, they went and took what they wanted; 
afterwards they found two boats with dead men in them. 
They saw a cairn and many papers, which had been 
given to the children or thrown away. One Eskimo 
had slept near the cairn, wrapping himself in blankets 
taken from some hanked-up clothing. A skeleton was 
near the pile. {We know there was such a pile near the 
Point Victory cairn.) 

After further exploration Hall was obliged to winter 
at Repulse Bay, as the Eskimos were afraid of hostile 
tribes. He was cheered this winter by a letter from 
Lady Franklin, expressing the deepest sympathy in his 
work. 

Hearing that some of Franklin's men were, or had 
been, on the shores of Fury and Hecla Straits, having 
probably crossed Boothia Gulf, Hall went thither a. id 
passed a season in exploring. The natives described 
men who wore caps on their heads and overcoats with 
hoods ; footprints long and narrow, with deep places in 
the heel, and the tread always outward. These had been 
seen as late as 1864. Probably some white men had 
been there, but it is not known who. 

Professor Nourse, in his ^^ American Explorations in 
the Ice Zones,'' repeats a story told by Captain William 
Adams, of the Dundee Whaler Arctic (who took tlie 
Polaris party from the '^ Eaven's Craig " to Dundee in 
his ship from whence they went to New York) on his 
return from a cruise as late as 1881. While his ship 



324 SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND OrilEhS. 

was within fifteen miles of Fury and Hecla Straits an 
intelligent Eskimo told him that when he was a young 
man in his father's hut, — - probably about thirty -five 
years before, — in 1848, three men came over the land 
toward Repulse Bay. The great " Amigak,'' or captain, 
died and the other two, who cried very much, lived some 
time in the hut and finally died. The Eskimos showed 
Captain Adams on the chart where they were buried. 
The Eskimos said years before two vessels had been 
lost far to the westward, and that seventeen men came 
over the country, but only three survived to reach his 
father's hut. 

In the spring of 1869 Hall started for King William 
Island with a party of natives, five men, three women, 
and two children and a baby in the hood of its mother. 
The load of one sled was twenty-eight hundred pounds ; 
the other twenty-five hundred. 

At Sheppard's Bay, a little to the east of King 
William Island, they met Eskimos who said they had 
seen Crozier, a telescope about his neck and a gun in 
his hand, and about forty-five men, in July, 1848, a few 
miles above Cape Herschel, dragging two sleds. Crozier 
was putting up a tent for the night. They gave him 
some meat, as he and his party seemed very hungry. 
During the night the Eskimos stole away from them, 
fearful probably that they might be asked to share their 
food with the white men, and they had none to spare. 
The next spring they found the bodies of the white men, 
but did not see Crozier's, so they believed he had been 
saved and gone back to his country. It will be remem- 
bered that they told Dr. Rae one of the bodies on the 
island, perhaps Todd Island, had a telescope over its 
shoulder and a double-barrelled gun lay under it. 



SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS. 325 

Farther on Hall heard that one of the ships had 
drifted to the shores of O'Eeilly's Island, off the south- 
west coast of King William Island, and that some 
white men had passed the winter on her — possibly those 
who went back with the boat — and tlien abandoned her. 
Later the natives broke into the cabin and found one 
very large man there — dead. The ship subsequently 
Avas so broken by the ice that she sank, but not till they 
had obtained a great deal of wood from the wreck. 

The natives told him he would find five graves 
or bodies on Todd Island, on the southern shore of King 
William Island. He went and found human bones in 
several places. On the mainland, Adelaide Peninsula, he 
found an entire skeleton which was afterwards sent 
to England. It was identified as the body of Lieuten- 
ant Le Vesconte, by the filling in the teeth. 

The Eskimos further said that east of Pfeffer 
Eiver, on the seashore, near Todd Island, two had died 
and been buried ; five miles eastward another ; on the 
west of Point Richardson, near by, had been found an awn- 
ing-covered boat, with the remains of more than thirty ; 
and on the western part of King William Island, a 
little way inland from Terror Bay- above Cape Herschel, 
a large tent was found whose floor was completely cov- 
ered with bodies. 

Hall brought away about one hundred and twenty-five 
pounds' weight of relics, — a boat, a mahogany writing- 
desk, many pieces of silver plate, — about one hundred 
and fifty things in all, and only regretted he could not 
bring more, as he said the relics are possessed, "by na- 
tives all over the Arctic regions from Pond's Bay to 
Mackenzie River.'^ 

Hall returned to America in the fall of 1869, and imme- 



326 SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS. 

diately began to prepare for another Arctic expedition, 
this time in search of the North Pole, having become sat- 
isfied that all of the Franklin party were dead. 

Hall sailed from New London July 3, 1871, in the 
steamer Polaris, and stopped in Greenland for Eskimos 
and dogs (Hans Hendrick, the dog-driver, brought aboard 
his wife, three children, boxes, bundles, and several 
puppies whose eyes could scarcely bear the light), and 
carried his ship up Smith's Sound to a liigher northern 
latitude than had been reached by any other vessel, 82 ° 
16^, two hundred miles north of Kane's highest point. 
Here she was beset by ice, but eventually went into win- 
ter quarters on the eastern side of the sound at a place 
which Hall named Thank God Harbor. A great iceberg 
protected them, four hundred and fifty feet long, and three 
hundred feet broad, and probably one hundred and eighty 
feet deep. Hall called this Providence Berg. 

Near the middle of October, Hall started on a sledge 
journey to prospect his route towards the Pole. He 
saw and named Eobeson's Strait, after the Secretary of the 
Navy ; Newman Bay, after Eev. Dr. Newman ; also Sum- 
ner Cape and Brevoort Cape. Immediately on his return, 
Oct. 24, expecting to start again in two days, he had 
an apoplectic attack, and expired at 3.25, a.m., Nov. 8, 
1871. The crew were two days in digging a grave twenty- 
six inches deep for the devoted and self-sacrificing ex- 
plorer. The work was done by the light of lanterns, as 
the daytime was all darkness there. At 11. a.m. the ship's 
bell tolled, the coffin was placed on a sled, and two by I 
two the ofiicers and crew bore their precious burden. ' 
The sobs of Hannah mingled with the sound of the fro- 
zen earth falling upon the coffin. 

^^ Joe and his wife," says Rear Admiral C. H. Davis in 



SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS, 327 

his " Polaris Expedition/^ " were almost heart-broken. 
The J had looked upon Hall as a father for nearly ten 
years ; they never could hope to find any one who would 
take his place. They had been with him in many trials 
and dangers ; they had often saved his life ; they felt 
alone in the world." 

Five years afterwards, May 13, 1876, Captain Stephen- 
son, of the Sir George Nares English expedition, in the 
presence of twenty-four officers hoisted the American 
Hag over the grave of Captain Hall, and erected a brass 
tablet which had been prepared in England. On it were 
these words : — 

** Sacred to the memory of 

Captain C. F. Hall, 

of the U. S. S. Polaris, 

who sacrificed his life in the advancement of Science, ISTov. 8, 1871. 

This tablet has been erected by the British Polar expedition of 1875, 

who, following in his footsteps, have profited by his experience.-' 

Such international courtesy was warmly appreciated by 
the American people. 

The loss to the expedition through Hall's death was 
irreparable. As the ship was much damaged by ice, and 
the coal supply was inadequate, it was decided to return 
home in the following August without further attempts 
to go North. After leaving Thank God Harbor the Po- 
laris entered a pack, and was tied to a floe, drifting 
down the channel into Baffin's Bay. She leaked badly. 
Oct. 15 the floe to which she was attached broke up in a 
storm ; and it was decided to abandon her and try to save 
the provisions, clothing, and boats by hastily throwing 
them out on the ice. Suddenly, in the gloom of the night, 
the Polaris with fourteen men on board parted from the 
floe, and left the bewildered company alone. The 



328 SIB JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS. 

steward called out in tlie darkness, ^^ Good-by Po- 
laris ! '' 

On the floe, a hundred yards long and seventy-five 
broad, were Captain Tyson, the assistant navigator, nine 
men belonging to the Polaris, besides nine Eskimos, 
including three women and a baby eight weeks old christ- 
ened Charles Polaris. Several men were brought in by 
boat from the small pieces of ice broken from the floe. 
All huddled together in a blinding snowstorm under some 
musk-ox skins. They built a house from materials thrown 
out from the ship, and they made some snow huts, and 
lived on food procured for them by Joe and Hans, the 
Eskimos ; they had some food also which had been 
thrown out from the ship. 

In this perilous condition they drifted down Baffin's 
Bay and Davis Strait, the floe crumbling, the sea some- 
times Avashing over it, and finally were obliged to take 
to their one boat, the other having been used for fuel. 
After drifting fifteen hundred miles in one hundred 
and ninety-six days, the men were picked up off the coast 
of Labrador by the English ship Tigress. The journey 
was one of the most remarkable and thrillino^ on record. 
All were saved, even the baby. The Polaris Avas driven 
helplessly on shore in Lifeboat Cove, Littleton Island, on 
the east side of Smith Sound, where the Etah Eskimos 
provided much food for the sufferers. During the winter 
they built a house from the wreck of the ship; and the 
Eskimos improved the opportunity to become perma- 
nent visitors to the number of one hundred men, women, 
and children, and one hundred and fifty dogs. The men 
built two boats and embarked in them June 3, and were 
picked up by the Dundee whaler, Eaven serai g, in Mel- 
ville Bay. 



SIB JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTRERS. 329 

The devoted Eskimos, Joe and Hannah, who saved 
the lives of the Tyson party by their hunting and care, 
would not escape to their Greenland home when they 
had the opportunity, and when, as Professor J. E. Nourse 
says, ^^ there were just grounds of fear within their 
breasts that, in the almost famishing condition of the 
white men, some of them might make the Eskimos 
the -first victims, if the direst necessity should come.^' 
They settled at their home in Groton Conn., purchased 
for them by '* Father Hall," as they called the explorer. 
Joe became a carpenter ; and Hannah, with the aid of 
her sewing-machine, made furs and other articles for 
the people of New London and Groton. 

Their first child died in New York in 1863 ; the second, 
on King William Island in 1866 ; a third, adopted by 
them, called Sylvia (Punna), who went to school in 
Groton, died in 1875, at the age of nine years. When- 
ever a child dies, the mother collects all its playthings 
and puts them upon its grave. Hannah died of con- 
sumption Dec. 31, 1876, at the age of thirty-eight. 
Her last words were, '^ Come, Lord Jesus, and take thy 
poor creature home !" 

In 1878, when Professor Nourse visited Hannah's 
grave, Joe knelt beside it and carefully weeded out the 
long grass. " Hannah gone ! Punna gone ! '^ he said ; 
^•me go now again to King William Land ; if have to 
fight, me no care.'' 

Joe went with Lieutenant Frederick Schwatka in the 
Franklin search party, June 19, 1878, and did not return 
to the United States. 

One more and perhaps final effort was made to dis- 
cover for a certainty the fate of the Franklin expedi- 
tion. In the summer of 1878 Schwatka, of the Third 



830 SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS. 

United States Cavalry, American by birth and Polisli 
by descent, with William H. Gilder second in command, 
were taken out from New York in the whaler Eothen, 
and landed near Chesterfield Inlet, on the west of Hud- 
son's Bay. Captain Barry of the Eothen had been told 
by the Eskimos at Eepulse Bay, as had Captain 
Adams, of the coming among them of a " stranger in 
uniform, accompanied by other white men." The chief 
had collected a great quantity of papers, and left them 
in a cairn, where silver spoons and other things had 
been found. The Eskimo at Marble Island below Ches- 
terfield Inlet also said, looking at Barry's log-book, that 
the white chief used a similar book, and the Eski- 
mos gave Barry a spoon engraved with the word 
^^ Franklin.'' The spoon bore Franklin's crest, and un- 
doubtedly belonged to him. It was sent to Miss Sophia 
Cracroft, London, niece of Sir John Franklin. 

Schwatka wintered on the mainland, near Depot 
Island, at the top of Hudson Bay, and April 1, 1879, 
began his unequalled sledge journey of three thousand 
two hundred and fifty miles, accompanied by thirteen 
Eskimos, men, women, and children. Forty-two dogs 
drew the sleds with six months' food for seventeen 
people, about five thousand pounds. They depended for 
meat largely upon animals to be killed during the 
journey. 

Crossing a branch of the Great Fish Eiver, they named 
it Hayes, after President Eutherford B. Hayes. On this 
river they met a party of Ook-joo-liks, whose chief told 
them of Franklin's men. His family comprised nearly 
all the tribe which was left of that once occupying the 
western coast of Adelaide Peninsula and King William 
Land. He told about the same story which Captain Hall 



SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS. 331 

had heard. He had seen '^ a white man dead in a bunk 
of a big ship/' when his son, about thirty-five, was a child. 
He saw tracks of white men on the mainland, at first the 
footprints of four, afterwards only of three. His people 
did not know how to get inside of the stranded ship at 
first ; but they finally cut a hole level with the ice, and 
later the ship filled and sank. They saw sweepings 
outside the ship, which seemed to have been brushed off 
by the people living on board. They found some red 
cans of fresh meat, with tallow mixed. Many had been 
opened, and four were unopened. They saw books on 
board, and left them there ; they took away many 
knives, forks, spoons, and pans. 

The son-in-law of the chief, when about fourteen years 
old, saw '^ two boats come down Back's River ; one had 
eight men in it, and he did not count those in the other 
boat. He had seen a cairn on Montreal Island, and 
found therein a pocket-knife, a pair of scissors, and some 
fish-hooks.'' 

The Schwatka party pushed on to the west of Eichard- 
son Point, on Adelaide Peninsula, and there met the 
Neitchilles, a tribe of Eskimos usually hostile. An old 
man told the party that he had seen a number of skel- 
etons three or four miles west of there ; had seen 
books and papers scattered along the shore and back 
from the beach ; knives and forks, a boat broken up by 
the natives to make wooden implements, and some gold 
and silver watches given to the children. 

Another man said he had picked up tin cans, pieces of 
bottles, iron, etc., only the last summer on an island off 
Grant Point, near O'Reilly's Island, where the natives 
said a ship was sunk off the south-east coast of King 
William Island. A map being shown him, he pointed to 



332 SIE JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS. 

a place eight miles west of Grant Point. All this tended 
to prove the story that several men sailed on the ship 
down to Simpson's Strait, thus making the north-west 
passage before they abandoned her. It seems possible 
that this was the Terror, from a block found at Wilmot 
Bay with R or 10 on it, with part of the E obliterated. 
Schwatka and his men visited the cove west of Eichard- 
son Point, where Hall had been told of the awning- 
covered boat and skeletons, since -called Starvation 
Cove. The natives said the boat was turned upside 
down, and the skeletons were beneath it. . One skeleton 
\Vas found, five miles farther inland. Later they learned 
from an Eskimo that in this cove was ^^a tin case 
about two feet long and a foot square, which was fas- 
tened, and they broke it open. It was full of books 
written and printed, the last precious records of the 
despairing company. Among the books the Eskimos 
saw probably the needle of a compass, as the needle stuck 
fast to any iron which it touched. The boat was then right 
side up, and the tin case in it. The books were taken home 
for the children to play with, and finally torn and lost, 
or lay among the rocks till carried away by the wind, or 
destroyed by the storms. There were also several pairs 
of gold spectacles and gold watches, doubtless belong- 
ing to officers. The Eskimos believed that the white 
men were driven to cannibalism to preserve life. One 
woman, about fifty-five, Ahlangyah, told them that on 
the eastern coast of Washington Bay, on the south shore 
of King William Island, years ago she saw ten men 
dragging a sledge with a boat on it. Five of the men 
put up a tent on the shore, and five remained in the 
boat on the ice. The Eskimos erected a tent also, and 
they stayed together five days. They killed a iiuniber 



SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS. 833 

of seals and gave them to the white men, who were very 
thin, and their mouths dry, hard, and black. They had 
no fur clothing on. One man's name was Aglooka (this 
was the name they always applied to Crozier) ; another, 
'^ Toolooah," — it probably sounded like that to the Eski- 
mos, — was bigger than any of the others and older. 
Doktook (Doctor) was a short man with a red beard. All 
three wore spectacles, not ice-goggles. All started for 
Adelaide Peninsula at night, because the ice would be 
thicker at that time. 

She also saw a tent on the shore at the head of Terror 
Bay the next spring, probably 1849. (This was the 
same tent described to Hall.) There were dead bodies 
inside, and outside some were covered with sand. There 
was no flesh on the bodies ; the cords and sinews only 
were left. There were knives, forks, watches, clothing, 
and many books. Tliere were one or two graves also. 
They were not the same party she saw going to Ade- 
laide Peninsula. Tears filled her eyes as she recited the 
story. 

The Eskimos went faster than the whites, and never 
saw theiti again. 

The Schwatka party proceeded up the west coast of 
King William Island till they reached Gape Jane Frank- 
lin, near Victory Point, where they found the camping- 
place of the men after they abandoned the ships. There 
were cooking-stoves, kettles, and an open grave, with 
a quantity of blue cloth, which seemed to have been a 
heavy overcoat, wrapped about the body. A silver medal 
was found, a mathematical prize from the Eoyal Naval 
College to John Irving, midsummer, 1830. Under the 
head was a figured silk handkerchief neatly folded. The 
grave was identified as that of Lieutenant John Irving, 



334 SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS. 

third officer of the Terror. The bones were gathered 
up and brought home by Schwatka, and returned to his 
grateful relatives in Edinburgh, Scotland, where they 
were buried with due honor. 

At several places on the western shore of King Wil- 
liam Island they found human bones, that were buried 
by them. At Terror Bay the sea evidently had washed 
away all traces of the tent and its " floor covered with 
remains.'^ Some graves were also found which had 
been opened by the Eskimos. 

The Schwatka party reached Depot Island, March 4, 
1880, after their sledge journey of more than eleven 
months. They suffered much from lack of food during 
the latter part of the journey, twenty-seven of their 
dogs, or half the original number, dying from exhaus- 
tion or scarcity of provisions. From Depot Island they 
returned to the fort, bringing many relics of the Frank- 
lin expedition, among them two sledges seen by M'Clin- 
tock, which had at that time the boat upon them, with 
the two skeletons. 

Schwatka received the Gold Medal of the Geographical 
Society of Paris. After the Franklin Search Expedition 
he explored the Yukon Eiver in Alaska for the gov- 
ernment, floating down the river on a raft for 1,305 miles. 
It was found to be navigable for 1,866 miles. In 1889 lie 
explored Old Mexico. He died in Portland, Oregon, 
E'ov. 2, 1892, at the age of forty-three years. He was 
buried at Salem, Oregon. 

Whether all the Franklin party died during the sum- 
mer of 1848, or a few of them lingered for some years 
among the Eskimos, is only conjecture. That the Eski- 
mos saw more than one party is probable ; but all at last 
met the same lonely death, in want of aid which came 
too late. 



sin JOHN FRANKLIN AND OTHERS. 835 

Lady Franklin, the devoted wife, lived until 1875, 
twenty-eight years after her husband's death. One of 
her last acts was the erection of a marble monument to 
Sir John in Westminster Abbey, for which Tennyson, 
who married Franklin's niece, wrote the epitaph. 

** Not here ! The white North hath thy bones, and thou, 

Heroic Sailor Soul ! 
Art passing on thy happier voyage now 
Towards no earthly pole.'* 

It was unveiled two weeks after her death. The 
late Dean Stanley added to the words on the monument, 
that it was ^^ erected by his widow, who, after long wait- 
ing and sending many in search of him, herself departed 
to seek him in the realms of light, 18th July, 1875, aged 
eighty-three years.'^ 



DAVID LIVINGSTONE. 



'^ \ MOEE perfect example of a downright simply 

-^^^ honest life, whether in contact with queens or 
slave-boys, one may safely say is not on record on our 
planet.'^ Such is the testimony of Thomas Hughes, the 
well-known author of "School Days at Eugby," con- 
cerning the distinguished explorer, David Livingstone. 

Similar testimony is given by Henry M. Stanley, the 
heroic African traveller : " Four months and four days 
I lived with him in the same house, or in the same boat, 
or in the same tent, and I never found a fault in him. 
I am a man of a quick temper, and often without suffi- 
cient cause, I dare say, have broken the ties of friend- 
ship ; but with Livingstone I never had cause for 
resentment, but each day's life with him added to my 
admiration for him." 

Again Stanley writes : " His religion is a constant, 
earnest, sincere practice. It is neither demonstrative 
nor loud, but manifests itself in a quiet, practical way, 
and is always at work. In him religion exhibits its 
loveliest features ; it governs his conduct not only 
towards his servants, but towards the natives, the big- 
oted Mahommedans, and all who come in contact with ■ 
him." 

Florence Nightingale thought him " the greatest man 

330 




DAVID LIVINGSTONE. 



DAVID LIVINGSTONE. ' 837 

of his generation ; for Dr. Livingstone " said she, ^' stood 
alone. There are few enough, but a few statesmen. 
There are few enough, but a few great in medicine, or in 
art, or in poetry. There are a few great travellers. But 
Dr. Livingstone stood alone as the great Missionary Trav- 
eller, the bringer-in of civilization ; or rather the pioneer 
of civilization — he that cometh before — to races lying 
in darkness." 

Sir Bartle Frere, president of the Eoyal Geographi- 
cal Society, said, '^1 never met his equal for energy and 
sagacity." Sir William Fergusson, eminent in medicine, 
wrote to the Lancet concerning this medical mission- 
ary, " There has been among us, in modern times, one of 
the greatest men of the human race, — David Living- 
stone." 

Poor, a worker in a factory, and self-educated, he sleeps 
now among kings and the noted of the earth in West- 
minster Abbey. 

On March 19, 1813, in a humble home in Blantyre, 
Scotland, on the banks of the Clyde, was born David 
Livingstone. He was the second son in a family of five 
sons and two daughters. 

The father, Neil Livingstone, apprenticed to a tailor 
in his boyhood, disliked his trade, and became a retail 
tea-dealer. With this business, which seems never to 
have been very profitable, he combined that of tract- 
distributing and the encouraging of reading books. He 
was ardently fond of good literature, especially along 
the theological line, and gathered into his home what- 
ever his scanty money would permit him to buy. He 
was an earnest worker in the Sunday-school, and in 
missionary societies, and a total abstainer from all which 
intoxicates. He learned Gaelic that he might read the 
Bible to his mother, who knew that language best. 



338 DAVID LIVINGSTONE. 

David's mother, Agnes Hunter, was a gentle, affec- 
tionate woman, the idol of her household, one who wore 
herself out to make a little go a great way in the poor 
man's home. David, when a lad, always swept and 
cleaned for her, " even under the door-mat," a thing 
which greatly pleased the neat, thrifty mother. He 
would say to her, remembering the eyes of the boys out- 
side, '* Mother, if you'll bar the door, I'll scrub the floor 
for you," — "a concession,'^ says Thomas Hughes, " to 
the male prejudices of Blantyre which he would not 
have made in later life.'^ 

Two sons died early, but the tea-trade would not 
support even those which were left; so at ten years of 
age little David had to go into the cotton factory near 
by as a piecer. From this time on he supported him- 
self and helped his mother. The first half-crown he 
ever earned he laid in her lap. 

His father's industry and his mother's cheer made 
the home a place of happiness. After the hard work of 
the day was over, which lasted from six in the morn- 
ing till eight at night, the evenings were spent in read- 
ing. It was the habit in this good Scotch family to 
lock the door at dusk ; '^ by which time," says Dr. W. G. 
Blaikie in his life of Livingstone, "all the children 
were expected to be in the house. ~ One evening David 
infringed this rule, and when he reached the door it was 
barred. He made no cry nor disturbance, but, having 
procured a piece of bread, sat down contentedly to pass 
the night on the doorstep. There, on looking out, his 
mother found him. It was an early application of the 
rule which did him such service in later days, — to make 
the best of the least pleasant situations." 

"With a part of his first week's wages at the mill he , 



DAVID LIVINGSTONE. 339 

purchased Ruddiraan's " Rudiments of Latin." This and 
other books he studied in the evening school, which 
lasted from eight to ten o'clock. " The dictionary part of 
my labors/' he wrote later in his first book, " Missionary 
Travels and Researches/' " was followed up till twelve 
o'clock, or later, if my mother did not interfere by jump- 
ing up and snatching the book out of my hands. . . . 
I read in this way many of the classical authors, and 
knew Virgil and Horace better at sixteen than I do 
now." * 

David read everything which came within his reach, 
especially books of science and travels, though his 
father much preferred that he would confine himself to 
religious books, such as the " Cloud of Witnesses," and 
Boston's " Fourfold State." His last whipping at the 
hands of his father came from a refusal to read Wilber- 
force's " Practical Christianity." The tract-distributer 
could not realize that the rod was not a promoter of 
piety. For years after this David disliked religious 
reading of every kind. 

In every spare hour he scoured the country, searching 
for flowers, specimens of rocks or of animal life, his 
eager mind always asking the reason of things. With 
great delight he was gathering shells in the carbon- 
iferous limestone around Blantyre, when he asked a 
quarry-man (^^ who looked," says Livingstone, '* with that 
pitying eye which the benevolent assume when viewing 
the insane "), " However did these shells come into these 
rocks ? " 

"When God made the rocks, he made the shells in 
them," was the sedate, but unconvincing reply. 

"These excursions," says Livingstone, "often in com- 
pany with brothers, one now in Canada, and the other a 



340 DAVID LIVINGSTONE. 

clergyman in the United States, gratified my intense 
love of nature; and though we generally returned so 
unmercifully hungry and fatigued that the embryo parson 
shed tears, yet we discovered, to us, so many new and 
interesting things, that he was always as eager to join us 
next time as he was the last." 

On one of these excursions they caught a salmon, — it 
was against the law to catch salmon, — and the fish was 
carried home secreted in the trousers leg of the brother 
Charlie. Though the boys were reproved by the good 
colporteur, the fish was eaten for supper. 

After more than eight years of daily labor — there 
could be little childhood about such a life —the lad was 
promoted to a " spinner's '' position. Day after day he 
placed his book on a portion of the spinning-jenny, " so 
that I could," he says, '^ catch sentence after sentence as 
I passed at my work ; I thus kept up a pretty constant 
study, undisturbed by the roar of the machinery. To 
this part of my education I owe my present power of 
completely abstracting the mind from surrounding noises, 
so as to read and write with perfect comfort amid the 
play of children, or near the dancing and songs of sav- 
ages. The toil of cotton-spinning . . . was excessively 
severe on a slim, loose-jointed lad, but it was well paid 
for. ... 

^' Looking back now on that life of toil, I cannot but 
feel thankful that it formed such a material part of my 
early education ; and, were it possible, I should like to 
begin life over again in the same lowly style, and to 
pass through the same hardy training." 

Livingstone always retained his love for the poor, and 
a pride in his honest ancestry. When asked to change 
^^ and " to " but " in the last line of an epitaph which he 



DAVID LIVINGSTONE. 341 

put over the graves of his parents in Hamilton Cemetery, 
he refused. 

** To show the resting-place of 

Neil Livingstone 

and Agnes Hunter, his wife, 

and to express the thankfulness to God 

of their children 

John, David, Janet, Charles, and Agnes, 

for poor and pious parents/' 

Some time during these toiling years the son of Chris- 
tian parents turned towards Christian thought and 
reading. He found from Dr. Thomas Dick's works, 
" The Philosophy of Religion " and '' The Philosophy of 
a Future State," " that religion and science were friendly 
to one another." 

He became so interested in missions, that he resolved 
to give all he could earn beyond his barest needs for 
the spread of the gospel. Finally a book, as a book has 
done before, changed the course of a life. 

Charles Giitzlaff, a German medical missionary to 
China, wrote an appeal to the churches of Great Britain 
and America for helpers. David, probably in his twenty- 
first year, after reading this booklet, resolved to be- 
come a medical missionary. 

With what money he could earn, and a little given by 
his parents and his elder brother, he went to Glasgow in 
the winter of 1836-37, when he was twenty-three, walking 
the eight miles in the snow from Blantyre, accompanied 
by his father. 

The lodgings were all too expensive for the slender 
purse of the young man. Finally, after searching all day, 
they found a room in Rotten Row at two shillings a 
week. 



342 DAVID LIVINGSTONE. 

He engaged it, and the next day, after a tender fare- 
well from his father, paid his fees of twelve pounds to 
the various classes in Greek, chemistry, medicine, and 
later in theology. 

He soon found that his tea and sugar disappeared, so 
he obtained new lodgings in High Street, at half a crown 
a week. 

Young Livingstone became a warm friend of Mr. James 
Young, the assistant of Dr. Graham, Professor of Chem- 
istry ; and in Young's room, where there was a bench 
turning-lathe, and other mechanical implements, learned 
the use of tools. This proved most valuable to him after- 
wards, when he built houses in Africa, and was, as he 
said, a '^ Jack-of-all-trades.'' 

Dr. Young, F.K.S., became renowned later for his 
purification of petroleum, and was called by Livingstone, 
'' Sir Paraffin." 

At the close of his term in April, Livingstone returned 
to the mill and worked as hard as ever, saving money 
for the second session. In 1838, having offered himself 
to the London Missionary Society, he and a friend, Eev. 
Joseph Moore, afterwards missionary at Tahiti, were sent 
to spend some months with the Eev. K-ichard Cecil, who 
resided at Chipping Ongar, in Essex. They studied the 
classics and theology under him, and prepared sermons, 
which were to be committed to memory, and then deliv- 
ered to the village congregations. 

Mr.. Moore relates the following incident : " Living- 
stone prepared one ; and one Sunday the minister of 
Stanford Elvers, where the celebrated Isaac Taylor 
resided, having fallen sick after the morning service, 
Livingstone was sent for to preach in the evening. He 
took his text, read it out very deliberately, and then -r- 



I 



DAVID LIVINGSTONE 343 

then — his sermon had fled ! Midnight darkness came 
upon him, and he abruptly said : ' Friends, I have for- 
gotten all I had to say/ and, hurrying out of the pulpit, 
jie left the chapel/' 

One morning at three o'clock, while at Ongar, Living- 
stone started to walk twenty-seven miles to London, — ■ 
there was no money to pay for rides, — to do some busi- 
ness for his elder brother. After some hours in London, 
starting homeward, he found a lady by the roadside, 
stunned by falling from a gig. He took her into a house 
near by, ascertained that no bones were broken, and 
recommended that a doctor should be called. He soon 
lost his way; but, after regaining it, reached Ongar at 
midnight, completely exhausted, and, says Moore, '' white 
as a sheet, and so tired he could hardly utter a word." 

The Missionary Society hesitated for some time as to 
accepting Livingstone for their work. He did not seem 
successful as a preacher ; he was not fluent in extempo- 
raneous prayer ; but they finally decided to give him. 
another trial, and later accepted him. 

He hastened to London, and for nearly two years 
worked earnestly and with enthusiasm in the hospitals. 
Deeply interested in natural history, he gave as much 
time as he could spare to the study of comparative anat- 
omy in the Hunterian Museum, under Professor Owen. 

Everywhere the young Scotchman won friends by rea- 
son of his gentleness and sympathy. ^^ He was so kind 
and gentle in word and deed to all about him, that all 
loved him,'' said one who was with him at Ongar. '' He 
had always words of sympathy at command, and was 
ready to perform acts of sympathy for those who were 
suffering." This gentleness he seems to have inherited 
from his mother, to whom he was tenderly devoted 
throuGfh life. 



344 DAVID LIVINGSTONE, 

At the closo of his medical studies he had a dangerous 
sickness from lung trouble, but recovered. He returned 
to Glasgow to take his medical diploma, and spent a 
night with his family. David proposed to sit up all 
night and talk, but his mother wisely objected. "I re- 
member," says Livingstone's sister, " my father and 
him talking over the prospects of Christian Missions. 
They agreed that the time would come when rich men 
and great men would think it an honor to support whole 
stations of missionaries, instead of spending their money 
on hounds and horses. On the morning of 17 November 
we got up at five o'clock. My mother made coffee. 
David read the One Hundred and Twenty-first and One 
Hundred and Thirty-fifth Psalms, and prayed. My 
father and he walked to Glasgow to catch the Liver- 
pool steamer.'^ 

They never met again. The father walked slowly 
and sadly back to Blantyre. His son went out to win 
world-wide renown. 

Sixteen years later Neil Livingstone, the father, lay 
on his death-bed. His famous son was on his way back 
to England. " You wished so much to see David/' said 
his daughter. " Ay, very much, very much ; but the 
will of the Lord be done." Then he added, " But I 
think I'll know whatever is worth knowing about him. 
When you see him, tell him I think so." 

When David was told these words, he wept, and gave 
thanks that night at family prayers '' for the dead who 
has died in the Lord." 

The opium war having closed China to David Living- 
stone, where he had first hoped to go, his mind was 
turned toward Africa by Dr. Robert Moffat, the noted 
missionary, then in London. Livingstone was ordained 



DAVID LIVINGSTONE. 845 

Nov. 20, 1840, in Albion-street Chapel, London, and 
sailed December 8, in the ship George, to Cape Town, 
reaching it after three months. 

During the journey he learned to take astronomical 
observations under the captain's instructions. He 
wrote to a friend : '^ The captain of our vessel was very 
obliging to me, and gave me all the information respect- 
ing the use of the quadrant in his power, frequently sit- 
ting up till twelve at night for the purpose of taking 
lunar observations with me," 

This knowledge proved invaluable in after years. '^ I 
never knew a man,'' said Sir Thomas Maclear, the As- 
tronomer Royal, '' who, scarcely knowing anything of the 
method of making geographical observations, or laying 
down positions, become so soon an adept, that he could 
take the complete lunar observation, and altitudes for 
time, within fifteen minutes, ... To give an idea of 
the laboriousness of this branch of his work, on an aver- 
age each lunar distance consists of five partial observa- 
tions, and there are 148 sets of distances, being 740 
contacts ; and there are two altitudes of each object be- 
fore, and two after, which, together with altitudes for 
time, amount to 21,812 partial observations. . . . What 
that man has done is unprecedented. . . . You could go 
to any point across the entire continent, along Living- 
stone's track, and feel certain of your position." Maclear 
said Livingstone's observations of the course of the 
Zambezi River were '' the finest specimens of sound 
geographical observations he ever met with." 

From Algoa Bay, Livingstone started for Kuruman, 
Dr. Moffat's usual residence, seven hundred miles by 
ox-wagon, arriving there July 31, 1841. Around the 
place it was desert for the most part, but at the station 



346 DAVID LIVINGSTONE. 

the missionaries by irrigation and tree-planting had 
made it very attractive. 

Livingstone and one of their own missionaries who had 
come up from the Cape were warmly welcomed by the 
firing of guns and the rush of men, women, and children 
to clasp them by the hand. 

After a short stay at Kuruman he started north to 
find a suitable place for a new station, as Dr. Moffat had 
suggested. From the first the natives were won by the 
kind manner and voice of Livingstone. He writes to 
his sister Janet : '' When about one hundred and fifty 
miles from home we came to a large village. The chief 
had sore eyes : I doctored them, and he fed us pretty 
well, and sent a fine buck after me as a present. When 
we got ten or twelve miles on the way, a little girl 
eleven or twelve years old came up, and sat down under 
my wagon, having run away with the purpose of coming 
with us to Kuruman, where she had friends. She had 
lived with a sister, lately dead. Another family took 
possession of her, for the purpose of selling her as soon 
as she was old enough for a wife ; but not liking this, 
she determined to run away. With this intention she 
came, and thought of w^alking all the way behind my 
wagon. I was pleased with the determination of the 
little creature, and gave her food ^ but before long heard 
her sobbing violently, as if her heart would break. 

" On looking round I observed the cause. A man with 
a gun had been sent after her, and had just arrived. I 
did not know well what to do, but was not in perplexity 
long; for Pomare, a native convert who accompanied us, 
started up and defended her. He, being the son of a 
chief, and possessed of some little authority, managed 
the matter nicely. She had been loaded with beads, to 



to I 



DAVID LIVINGSTONE 347 

render her more attractive, and fetch a higher price. 
These she stripped off and gave to the man. I after- 
wards took measures for hiding her, and if fifty men 
had come they would not have got her.'' 

For six months Livingstone remained at ^ place called 
Koloben, where, away from all Europeans, he studied 
the habits and language of the Bakwains (Crocodile 
People). 

One of the neighboring chiefs, Sekomi, came and sat 
with Livingstone in his hut, and, after being apparently 
in deep thought, said, '^ I wish you would change my 
heart. Give me medicine to change it, for it is proud, 
proud and angry, angry always." 

Livingstone lifted up the New Testament, and was 
about to tell him how his heart might be changed through 
that book, when Sekomi interrupted him by saying, 
^^Nay, I wish to have it changed by medicine, to drink 
and have it changed at once, for it is always very proud 
and very uneasy, and continually angry with some one.'^ 
He then rose and went away. 

On Livingstone's return to Kuruman he had an im- 
mense medical practice. In a letter to his old tutor, 
Dr. Eisdon Bennett, he says, "I have patients now under 
treatment who have walked one hundred and thirty miles 
for my advice ; and when these go home, others will 
come for the same purpose. This is the country for a 
medical man if he wants a large practice ; but he must 
leave fees out of the question ! The Bechuanas have a 
great deal more disease than I expected to find amongst 
a savage nation ; but little else can be expected, for they 
are nearly naked, and endure the scorching heat of the 
day and the chills of the night in that condition. Indi-. 
gestion, rheumatism, and ophthalmia are the prevailing 



348 DAVID LIVINGSTONE. 

diseases. Sometimes, when travelling, my wagon was 
quite besieged by their blind, halt, and lame. . . . They 
are excellent patients, too, besides. There is no wincing. 
In any operation, even the women sit unmoved.'' 

The only child of Sechele, chief of the Bakwains, 
having been cured of an illness by Livingstone, he 
became thereafter one of the missionary's greatest 
friends. 

When talked with about Christianity, Sechele said, 
" Since it is true that all who die unforgiven are lost for- 
ever, why did your nation not come to tell us of it before 
now ? My ancestors are all gone, and none of them 
heard anything of what you tell me. How is this ? " 

'^I thought immediately of the guilt of the church,^' 
says Livingstone, "but did not confess." 

Some time later Sechele was converted, read his Bible, 
and sent home to their parents all his wives save one, 
giving each her clothes and all the goods which she 
had in her hut belonging either to herself or her hus- 
band. This alienated all their relatives, and made many 
bitter enemies for Sechele. The putting away of his 
wives cost Sechele a severe struggle. He often said to 
Livingstone, " Oh, I wish you had come to this country 
before I became entangled in the meshes of our cus- 
toms ! " 

At first he proposed to increase converts in a peculiar 
manner. He said to Livingstone, " Do you think you 
can make my people believe by talking to them ? I can 
make them do nothing except by thrashing them ; and if 
you like I shall call my head-man, and with our whips 
of rhinoceros hide we will soon make them all believe 
together." 

He soon became more gentle, and began family wor- 



DAVID LIVINGSTONE. 849 

ship ; but to his great regret no one attended save his 
own family. " In former times/^ he said, " if a chief 
was fond of hunting, all his people got dogs and became 
fond of hunting too. If he loved beer, they all rejoiced 
in strong drink. But now it is different. I love the 
word of God, but not one of my brethren will join me." 

In one of these journeys, when the oxen became ill, 
and Livingstone was obliged to walk, he overheard some 
of his men saying, " He is not strong ; he is quite slim, 
and only seems stout because he puts himself into those 
bags (trousers) ; he will soon knock up.'^ 

^' This made my Highland blood rise,'^ he says, " and I 
kept them all at the top of their speed for days to- 
gether, until I heard them express a favorable opinion of 
my pedestrian powers.'' 

The journeys on the back of an ox were anything but 
easy. He wrote Dr. Bennett : " It is rough travelling, as 
you can conceive. The skin is so loose there is no get- 
ting one's great-coat, which has to serve both as saddle 
and blanket, to stick on ; and then the long horns in 
front, with which he can give one a punch in the abdo- 
men if he likes, makes us sit as bolt upright as dra- 
goons. In this manner I travelled more than four 
hundred miles." 

It having been decided to form a mission station at 
Mabotsa, about two hundred miles north-east of Kuru- 
man, Livingstone went thither in 1843. Here he came 
near being killed by a lion. These animals abounded in 
the neighborhood, and ate the cows and sometimes the 
people. If one o£ a. troop, o^i lions, is sh^t^tlia. othersu 
will usually leave the country. 

When a herd of cows was attacked, Livingstone 
went out with the men to try to kill the intruder. He 



350 DAVID LIVINGSTONE. 

shot at one lion about thirty yards off, and wounded 
him. Loading his gun again, he heard a shout from the 
otlier men. "Starting," he says, "and looking half 
round, I saw the lion just in the act of springing upon 
me. I was upon a little height ; he caught my shoulder 
as he sprang, and we both came to the ground below to- 
gether. Growling horribly close to my ear, he shook me 
as a terrier dog does a rat. The shock produced a 
stupor similar to that which seems to be felt by a mouse 
after the first shake of a cat. It caused a sort of dream- 
iness in which there was no sense of pain nor feeling of 
terror, though quite conscious of all that was happen- 
ing. ... 

" Turning .round to relieve myself of the weight, as 
he had one paw on the back of my head, I saw his 
eyes directed to Mebalwe, who was trying to shoot 
him at a distance of ten or fifteen yards. His gun, 
a flint one, missed fire in both barrels ; the lion im- 
mediately left me, and, attacking Mebalwe, bit his 
thigh. Another man, whose life I had saved before, 
after he had been tossed by a buffalo, attempted to spear 
the lion while he was biting Mebalwe. He left Mebalwe 
and caught this man by the shoulder ; but at that mo- 
ment the bullets he had received took effect, and he fell 
down dead. The whole was the work of a few moments, 
and must have been his paroxysms of dying rage. . . . 
Besides crunching the bone into splinters, he left eleven 
teeth wounds on the upper part of my arm." 

This encounter left Livingstone lame for life in that 
arm. A false joint formed in the arm, and by this mark 
his body was identified years after, when it was brought 
back to England. 

During the year 1844 Dr. Moffat returned to Kuruman 



DAVID LIVINGSTONE. 351 

from England with his family. The eldest daughter 
Mary seems to have changed Livingstone's mind on the 
subject of marriage. He had told the London Mission- 
ary Society when he came to Africa that he had never 
made proposal of marriage, nor indeed been in love. 
He would prefer to go out unmarried, that he might, 
like the great apostle, be without family cares, and 
give himself entirely to the work. 

In 1844 he writes : " After nearly four years of African 
life as a bachelor, I screwed up courage to put a ques- 
tion beneath one of the fruit-trees, the result of which 
was that I became united in marriage to Mr, Moffat's 
eldest daughter, Mary. Having been born in the coun- 
try, and being expert in household matters, she was always 
the best spoke in the wheel at home ; and, when I took 
her on two occasions to Lake Ngami, and far beyond, she 
endured more than some who have written large books 
of travel.'' 

While engaged to her in the early part of 1844, he 
writes to her about the house he is building for their 
future home at Mabotsa: ^^ The walls are nearly finished, 
although the dimensions are fifty-two feet by twenty 
outside, or almost the same size as the house in which 
you now reside, I began with stone ; but when it was 
breast-high I was obliged to desist from my purpose to 
build it entirely of that material by an accident whicli, 
slight as it was, put a stop to my operations in that line. 
A stone, falling, was stupidly, or rather instinctively, 
caught by me in its fall by the left hand, and it nearly 
broke my arm over again. , . , 

" The walls will be finished long before you receive 
this, and I suppose the roof too, but I have still the 
wood of the roof to seek. ... It is pretty hard work, 



352 DAVID LIVINGSTONE. 

and almost enough to drive love out of my head, but it 
is not situated there ; it is in my heart, and won't come 
out unless you behave so as to quench it. . . . 

" You must excuse soiled paper ; my hands won't wash 
clean after dabbling mud all day. And although the 
above does not contain evidence of it, you are as dear to 
me as ever, and will be as long as our lives are spared." 

A few weeks later he writes: '^ While I give you the 
good news that our work is making progress, and the 
time of our separation becoming beautifully less, I am 
happy in the hope that, by the messenger who now goes, 
I shall receive the good news that you are well and 
happy, and remembering me with some of that affection 
which we bear to each other/' 

He writes her that he has opened a school, and that 
though he had previously had a " great objection to 
school-keeping,'^ and once believed he could never have 
any pleasure in it, '' I find in that, as in almost every- 
thing else I set myself to as a matter of duty, I soon be- 
come enamoured of it.''" 

After their marriage they resided for a year at Ma- 
botsa. The other missionary at that place becoming 
disaffected, rather than to live in any unpleasant feel- 
ing, Mr. and Mrs. Livingstone left the home which 
they had built, their school and garden, and moved 
forty miles north to Chonuane. His colleague regretted 
the outcome of the matter, and said that had he supposed 
Livingstone would go away he would never have spoken 
a word against him. 

At Chonuane there was plenty of hard work. He 
wrote : " Building, gardening, cobbling, doctoring, tinker- 
ing, carpentering, gun-mending, farriering, wagon-mend- 
ing, preaching, schooling, lecturing on physics, according 



DAVID LIVINGSTONE. 853 

to my means, besides a chair in divinity to a class of 
three, fill up my time.'^ 

^^ We made our own butter/^ he says in his first book, 
"a jar serving as a churn; and our candles by means of 
moulds ; and soap was procured from the ashes of the 
plant lolsola, or wood-ashes, which in Africa contain so 
little alkaline matter, that the boiling of successive leys 
has to be continued for a month or six weeks before the 
fat ia saponified. . . . Married life is all the sweeter 
when so many comforts emanate directly from the thrifty, 
striving housewife's hands/' 

At Chonuane their first child, Kobert, was born, 
named after Mrs. Livingstone's father, Eobert Moffat. 
After being brought up in England, having the restless 
nature of his father, he was sent to Natal, Africa ; but 
unable to reach Livingstone on the Zambesi, he found 
his way to America, where he enlisted at Boston in a 
New Hampshire regiment, in the Northern army, under 
the assumed name of Eupert Vincent, to avoid being 
found by his tutor. He was wounded in battle, having 
shown great courage, and taken as a prisoner to a hos- 
pital in Salisbury, North Carolina. Br. Livingstone 
learned of this through a letter in Avhich the youth ex- 
pressed an intense desire to travel. The father, at this 
time in England, begged the intercession of the American 
Minister for his boy, but immediately after it was learned 
that he had died in the hospital at the age of nineteen. 
He was buried in the National Cemetery at Gettysburg, 
Pennsylvania. President Lincoln opened this cemetery 
with a speech that made his name forever dear to Living- 
stone. 

Life was no holiday to either David or Mary Livincf- 
stone. The continued drou^irht necessitated their mov- 



354 DAVID LIVINGSTONE. 

ing farther north to Kolobeng, — Sechele and his tribe 
moved with them, — where he describes their daily life : 
^^ After family worship and breakfast between six and 
seven, we went to keep school for all who would attend, 
— men, women, and children being all invited. School 
over at eleven o'clock, while the missionary's wife was 
occupied in domestic matters, the missionary himself 
had some manual labor as a smith, carpenter, or gar- 
dener, according to whatever was needed for ourselves 
or for the people. . . . After dinner and an hour's rest 
the wife attended her infant school, which the young, 
who were left by their parents to their own caprice, 
liked amazingly, and generally mustered a hundred 
strong; or she varied with a sewing-school, having 
classes of girls to learn the art : this, too, was equally 
w^ell relished." 

After working till sunset, on three nights of the week 
religious services were held, varied by classes in secular 
instruction, by pictures, specimens, etc. The rest of tlie 
time was spent in caring for the wants of the poor and 
the sick. 

Though busy years, these spent at Kolobeng were happy 
ones. More than twenty years later Livingstone wrote : 
^^Not a single pang of regret arises in the view of my 
conduct, except that I did not feel it to be my duty, 
while spending all my energy in teaching the heathen, 
to devote a special portion of my time to play with my 
children. But generally I was so much exhausted with . 
the mental and manual labor of the day, that in the 
evening there was no fun left in me. I did not play 
with my little ones while I had them ; and they soon 
sprung up in my absences, and left me conscious that I 
had none to play with." 



DAVID LIVINGSTONE. 355 

Having had much annoyance from the Boers, descend- 
ants of the Dutch, who lived to the east of Kolobeng, 
and who constantly threatened to enslave Sechele and 
his people, and having heard of a lake to the northward, 
where a country better watered might be found, Living- 
stone started June 1, 1849, to cross the Kalahari Desert 
to the north, taking with him twenty men, twenty 
horses, and eighty oxen. They suffered greatly for lack 
of water during the journey, the oxen sometimes going 
four full days, ninety-six hours, without drinking. 

The inhabitants of the desert were Bushmen and 
Bakalahari. The latter were a timid people, living far 
from water, witli the hope that they would not be mo- 
lested or enslaved. '' When they wish to draw water for 
use,'' says Livingstone, " the women come with twenty 
or thirty of their water-vessels in a bag or net on their 
backs. These water-vessels consist of ostrich egg-shells, 
with a hole in the end of each, such as would admit 
one's finger. The women tie a bunch of grass to one 
end of a reed about two feet long, and insert it in a 
hole dug as deep as the arm will reach ; then ram do vn 
the wet sand firmly round it. 

'- Applying the mouth to the free end of the reed, they 
form a vacuum in the grass beneath, in which the water 
collects, and in a short time rises into the mouth. An 
egg-shell is placed on the ground alongside the reed, 
some inches below the mouth of the sucker. A straw 
guides the water into the hole of the vessel, as she 
draws mouthful after mouthful from below. The water 
is made to pass along the outside, not through the 
straw. . . . The whole stock of water is thus passed 
through the woman's mouth as a pump, and, when taken 
home, is carefully buried." 



856 DAVID LIVINGSTONE. 

On Aug. 1, 1849, Livingstone and his two English 
friends, Oswell and Murray, looked upon Lake Ngami. 
They were doubtless the first Europeans who had ever 
beheld it. Livingstone guessed it to be about seventy 
miles in circumference. The word means '^ giraffe," per- 
haps from the shape of the lake. Many travellers had 
tried to reach it, and had been unable to cross the desert. 

Livingstone also discovered the Zouga Eiver, concern- 
ing which he wrote to his friend Watt : " It is a glorious 
river; you never saw anything so grand. The banks 
are extremely beautiful, lined with gigantic trees, many 
quite new.'' There were two baobab-trees, one seventy- 
six feet in girth. These trees are sometimes one hun- 
dred feet in circumference. One tree bore "a fruit a 
foot in length and three inches in diameter." 

The Royal Geographical Society voted Livingstone 
twenty-five guineas for the discovery of a " large inland 
lake and a fine river." No doubt the money was very 
acceptable to a man who was supporting a wife and three 
children on one hundred pounds a year (five hundred 
dollars), and helping now and then, in a very limited 
way, his relatives at home. 

His heart and hands were ever open. Some years 
before he had given his brother Charles five pounds to 
help him to go to America, where he might, perhaps, 
obtain admission to a college where he could support 
himself by manual labor and prepare for the ministry. 
On landing at New York, after selling his box and bed, 
diaries found himself possessed of two pounds, thirteen 
shillings, sixpence. 

Purchasing some bread and cheese, he started for 
Oberlin College, Ohio, over five hundred miles away ; 
Dr. Charles Finney was at that time the president. He 



i 



DAVID LIVINGSTONE. 857 

obtained his education, and was settled over a New- 
England Church till he joined his brother in Africa in 
1857. This is not the first nor the last time that Ober- 
lin College has proved a blessing. 

Livingstone hoped to push on beyond Lake Nganii to 
the Chief Sebituane, but was prevented by another chief, 
through jealousy. He therefore returned ; and the fol- 
lowing year, in April, 1850, he left Kolobeng a second 
time for Ngami, accompanied by his wife and children, 
When near the lake, they found a party of Englishmen, 
one of whom, an artist, had died, and the others were 
nursed to health by Mrs. Livingstone. 

Fever attacked two of the children, and others of 
the party, and they were obliged to return to Kolobeng. 
Here a little daughter, Elizabeth, was born, who died in 
six weeks. It was a great blow to the parents, the first 
death in their family. 

Livingstone wrote home to his father and mother; — 
'' Our last child, a sweet little girl with blue eyes, was 
taken from us to join the company of the redeemed, 
through the merits of Him of whom she never heard. It 
is wonderful how soon the affections twine round a little 
stranger. We felt her loss keenly. . . . She uttered 
a piercing shriek previous to expiring, and then went 
away to see the King in his beauty, and the land — tlie 
glorious land, and its inhabitants." 

Years afterward the father longed to visit the grave of 
his child, but did not deem it wise to enter the country, 
as the Boers then governed it. 

A third and at last successful attempt was made to 
reach Sebituane in April, 1851. The guide lost his way 
in the desert, and for four days they were without water. 
Livingstone says in his ^^ Missionary Travels:'' "The 



358 DAVID LIVINGSTONE. 

supply of water in the wagons had been wasted by one of 
our servants, and by the afternoon only a small portion 
remained for the children. This was a bitterly anxious 
night; and next morning the less there was of water, 
the more thirsty the little rogues became. The idea of 
their perishing before our eyes was terrible : it would 
almost have been a relief to me to have been reproached 
with being the entire cause of the catastrophe ; but not 
one syllable of upbraiding was uttered by their mother, 
though the tearful eye told the agony within. In the 
afternoon of the fifth day, to our inexpressible relief, 
some of the men returned with a supply of that fluid of 
which we had never before felt the true value.^' 

Livingstone said later: "My opinion is that the 
most severe labors and privations may be undergone 
without alcoholic stimuhis, because those who have en- 
dured the most had nothing else but water, and not 
always enough of that." 

Sebituane received Livingstone most cordially; for it 
had been the dream of his life to know white men, as he 
was the " greatest man in all that country," the chief of 
the Makololo. He died two weeks later from inflamma- 
tion of the lungs. " After sitting with him some time," 
says Livingstone, " and commending him to the mercy of 
God, I rose to depart, when the dying chieftain, raising 
himself up a little from his prone position, called a.ser- 
vant and said, ' Take Kobert to Maunko (one of his 
wives), and tell her to give him some milk/ These 
were the last words of Sebituane." 

The next day he was buried in his cattle-pen, and all 
the cattle driven for an hour or two around and over the 
grave, so that it should be quite obliterated. His daugh- 
ter, Ma-mochisane, reigned after him. Wh^n her brother 



DAVID LIVINGSTONE. 359 

Sekeletu was eighteen years of age, she resigned in his 
favor. Tliree days were spent in public discussion over 
the subject, when Ma-mochisane burst into tears, exclaim- 
ing, " I have been a chief only because my father wished 
it ! I always would have preferred to be married and 
have a family like other women. You, Sekeletu, must 
be chief, and build up your father's house/' 

Another member of the family, Mpepe, tried to assas- 
sinate Sekeletu, who was saved by Livingstone. Mpepe 
Avas afterwards speared by order of the chief, Sekeletu. 

The latter, according to the custom of the Bechuanas, 
became the possessor of his father's wives, and adopted 
two of them. The children by these wives are termed 
brothers and sisters. There is always a head wife, or 
queen. If she dies, a new wife is selected for the same 
position. 

Livingstone and Oswell, who was a sportsman and 
traveller, continued in their explorations to the north, to 
find a suitable and healthful place for the mission. 
Toward the end of June, 1851, they discovered the 
Zambesi Eiver, in the centre of the continent. The 
Portuguese had always represented the river on their 
maps as rising far to the eastward. There w^as at this 
point a breadth of from three hundred to six hundred 
yards. The tribes were living among the swamps for 
the protection afforded them by the deep, reedy rivers, 
and Livingstone felt that he could not settle his family 
there. He decided, therefore, to send them to England 
until he should have explored the country farther, as 
they could not be left at Kolobeng, at the mercy of the 
Boers. 

Livingstone took his family to the Cape; and Mrs. 
Livingstone, with her four children, Bobert, Thomas, 



360 DAVID LIVINGSTONE. 

Agnes, and Oswell, an infant six months old, sailed for 
England, April 23, 1852. Mr. Oswell, who was a friend 
indeed, provided two hundred pounds for their outfit. 

It was a sad parting for all. It seemed best for the 
children to be reared in England, and for their mother 
to be with them. Livingstone felt that he was called to 
open up the vast country about him. The chiefs were 
friendly to him. He could help to arrest the terrible 
slave-trade going on before him. ^^ Nothing," he wrote 
to the London Missionary Society, " but a strong con- 
viction that the step will lead to the glory of Christ 
would make me orphanize my children. Even now my 
bowels yearn over them. They will forget me ; but I 
hope when the day of trial comes I shall not be found 
a more sorry soldier than those who serve an earthly 
sovereign." 

After his family had gone, he wrote by every mail. Two 
weeks after their departure he writes : ^^ My dearest 
Mary, — How I miss you now and the dear children! 
My heart yearns incessantly over you. How many 
thoughts of the past crowd into my mind ! I feel as if 
I would treat you all more tenderly and lovingly than 
ever. You have been a great blessing to me. You 
attended to my comfort in many, many ways. May God 
bless you for all your kindnesses ! I see no face now to 
be compared with that sunburnt one which has so often 
greeted me with its kind looks. ... I never show all 
my feelings; but I can say truly, my dearest, that I 
loved you when I married you, and the longer I lived 
with you, I loved you the better. . . . Take them all 
(the children) round you, and kiss them for me. Tell 
them I have left them for the love of Jesus, and they 
must love Him, too." 



DAVID LIVINGSTONE. 861 

Two weeks later he writes to Agnes, his eldest daughter, 
then in her fifth year : " This is your own little letter. 
... I shall not see you again for a long time, and I 
am very sorrjr. I have no Nannie now. I have given 
you back to Jesus, your Friend — your Papa who is in 
heaven. He is above you, but He is always near you.'' 

While at Cape Town, Livingstone put himself under 
the instructions of the astronomer-Koyal, Sir Thomas 
Maclear. They became firm friends. The most striking 
promontory on Lake Nyassa, Dr. Livingstone named 
Cape Maclear, in honor of his distinguished friend. 
^^Livingstone acquired in astronomical observations,'' 
says H. H. Johnston, F.E.G.S., in his valuable life of 
the explorer, " a skill and accuracy which few subsequent 
travellers have possessed to a like degree." 

Two months after his wife's departure for England, 
he left the Cape with ten poor oxen dragging his heavy 
wagon. He was so delayed that he did not reach Kuru- 
man till September. Here a wheel broke, and he 
stopped to repair it. This accident saved his life. 

While mending it a letter was brought to him by 
Masabele from her husband. It read as follows : 
^^ Friend of my heart's love, and all of the confidence 
of my heart, I am Sechele. I am undone by the Boers, 
who attacked me, though I have no guilt with them. 
They demanded that I should be in their kingdom, and I 
refused. They demanded that I should prevent the 
English and Griquas from passing. I replied, ^ These 
are my friends, and I can prevent no one ! ' They came 
on Saturday, and I besought them not to fight- on Sun- 
day and they assented. 

"They began on Monday morning at twilight, and 
fired with all their might, and burned the town with fire, 



862 DAVID LIVINGSTONE, 

and scattered us. They killed sixty of my people, and 
captured women and children and men. They took all 
the cattle and all the goods of the Bakwains ; and the 
house of Livingstone they plundered, taking away all 
his goods. '^ 

Sechele's wife had been saved by hiding herself in the 
cleft of a rock, over which the Boers were firing. When 
her infant cried, terrified lest the noise betray them, she 
took off her armlets and gave to it for playthings. 

Livingstone writes to his wife of the dreadful outrage 
committed by the Boers: "They gutted our house at 
Kolobeng; they brought four wagons down and took 
away sofa, table, bed, all the crockery, your desk (I hope 
it had nothing in it. Have you the letters ?), smashed 
the wooden chairs, took away the iron ones, tore out the 
leaves of all the books, and scattered them in front of 
the house, smashed the bottles containing medicines, 
windows, oven-door, took away the smith-bellows, anvil, 
all the tools, ^^ — in fact, everything worth taking: three 
corn-mills, a bag of coffee for which I paid six pounds, 
and lots of coffee, tea, and sugar, which the gentlemen 
who went to the North left." 

All the corn belonging to three tribes was burned, and 
all the cattle taken. The Boers expressed regret that 
they could not get hold of Livingstone himself. What a 
mercy that Mrs. Livingstone was out of the country ! 

Sechele wanted to go to England and tell his wrongs 
to the Queen. He went as far as the Cape, but not 
having the money to go farther, was obliged to return, a 
thousand miles, to his own devastated country. 

Livingstone pushed on toward the interior of Africa, 
reaching Linyanti in the following year, in June, 1853. 
It was a toilsome journey. Sometimes they waded all 



DAVID LIVINGSTONE, 863 

day long through floods, bramble-bushes, and serrated 
grass which cut the hands like a razor. Feb. 4 he 
writes in his journal : " I am spared in health, while 
all the company have been attacked by fever. If God 
has accepted my service, my life is charmed till my 
work is done." 

To Dr. Moffat, his father-in-law, he writes : " I shall 
open up a path to the interior or perish. I never have 
had the shadow of a shade of doubt as to the propriety 
of my course.'' 

As ever, Livingstone was the closest observer in 
natural history and geology. He notes the habits of 
the great land tortoise which is used by the natives 
for food. "When about to deposit her eggs, she lets 
herself into the ground by throwing the earth up round 
■j|; her shell, until only the top is visible ; then covering up 
he eggs, she leaves them until the rains begin to fall 
and the fresh herbage appears; the young ones then 
come out, their shell still quite soft, and, unattended by 
their dam, begin the world for themselves.'' 

They saw several lions on the journey. " He seldom 
attacks full-grown animals," says Livingstone ; " but 
frequently, when a buffalo calf is caught by him, the 
cow rushes to the rescue, and a toss from her often kills 
him. . . . Lions never go near any elephants except the 
calves, which, when quite young, are sometimes torn by 
them ; every living thing retires before the lordly ele- 
phant." 

Serpents also abound. One python which they shot 
was eleven feet and ten inches long, and as thick as a 
man's leg. The natives do not like to destroy these huge 
snakes. 

Concerning the ostrich this close observer says : " The 



8G4 DAVID LIVINGSTONE. 

ostrich begins to lay her eggs before she has fixed 
on a spot for lier nest, which is only a hollow a few 
inches deep m the sand, and about a yard in diameter. 
Solitary eggs are thus found lying forsaken all over the 
country^ and become a prey to the jackal. She seems 
averse to risking a spot for a nest, and often lays her 
eggs in that of another ostrich, so that as many as forty- 
five have been found in one nest. . . . 

^^ Both male and female assist in the incubations ; but 
the number of females being alway greatest, it is prob- 
able that cases occur in which the females have the 
entire charge. Several eggs lie out of the nest, and are 
thought to be intended as food for the first of the newly 
hatched brood till the rest come out and enable the 
whole to start in quest of food. . . . 

" The organs of vision in this bird are placed so high 
that he can detect an enemy at a great distance, but the 
lion sometimes kills him. ... It seeks safety in 
flight ', but when pursued by dogs, it may be seen to 
turn upon them and inflict a kick, which is vigorously 
applied, and sometimes breaks the dog's back.'^ 

Mr. H. H. Johnston, Commissioner for Nyasaland, 
and Consul-General for Portuguese East Africa, says : 
^'The Bushmen, as is well known, stalk the ostrich, 
and approach near enough to kill it, by disguising the 
upper part of their bodies with the cleverly stuffed skin 
of a cock-ostrich. This disguise attracts both the males 
and the females among the inquisitive birds to a close 
inspection of the hunter, who, however, occasionally finds 
himself thwarted by his own cleverness, for he imitates 
so closely the appearance, gait, and voice of a cock- 
ostrich, that before he has time to shoot his poisoned 
arrow, some furiously jealous male among the real os- 



I 



DAVID LIVINGSTONE. 365 

triclies rushes up and strikes his supposed rival to the 
earth with a stunning blow from his powerful two-toed 
foot." 

Dr. Livingstone had no sympathy with those persons 
who hunt for mere sport, if there can be sport in killing 
living things ! ^^ If, as has been practised by some/' 
says the explorer, " great numbers of animals are 
wounded and allowed to perish miserably, or are killed 
on the spot and left to be preyed on by vultures and 
hyenas, and all for the sole purpose of making a ' bag,' 
then I take it to be evident that such sportsmen are 
pretty far gone in the hunting form of insanity/' 

Mr. Johnston says that unless measures are taken for 
the protection of the zebras and buffaloes, they will soon 
disappear from Africa. ^^ The main object," he says, 
" of all the lusty young Englishmen to whom Africa is 
now becoming fashionable, and who pour into the coun- 
try to join pioneer forces or expeditions, is to slaughter 
the game recklessly, right and left, uselessly, heedlessly." 

After spending a month at Linyanti, Livingstone 
started on his journey towards the west coast of Africa. 
The chief Sekeletu and about one hundred and sixty 
persons accompanied him for a time. The journey to 
Loanda on the coast took them from Nov. 11, 1853, to 
May 31, 1854, a little over six months. At first the 
country was flat, though there were many gigantic ant- 
hills. These mounds are the work of termites, or white 
ants, which seem to make the earth fertile in the same 
manner that worms do, as has been shown by Darwin. 

^^ These heaps and mounds are so conspicuous that 
they may be seen for miles," says Professor Henry Drum- 
mond in his "Tropical Africa," "and so numerous are 
they and so useful as cover to the sportsman, that with- 



366 DAVID LIVINGSTONE, 

out them, in certain districts, hunting would be impos- 
sible.'' They are seen " now dotting the plain in groups 
like a small cemetery, now rising into mounds, singly or 
in clusters, each thirty or forty feet in diameter and ten 
or fifteen feet in height/' 

The termite, which is a small insect, " with a bloated, 
yellowish-white body," lives almost entirely upon wood. 
^^ Furniture, tables, chairs, chests of drawers,'' says 
Professor Drummond, "everything made of wood, is 
inevitably attacked, and in a single night a strong trunk 
is often riddled through and through. ... On the Tan. 
ganyika plateau I have camped on ground which was as 
hard as adamant, and as innocent of white ants apparently 
as the pavement of St. Paul's, and wakened next morning 
to find a stout wooden box almost gnawed to pieces. 
Leather portmanteaus share the same fate, and the only 
substances which seem to defy the marauders are iron 
and tin." 

The houses of the ants are divided into numerous 
apartments, the best reserved for the queen, a large 
creature, two or three inches long, whom the tireless 
workers feed from their own mouths. She lays thou- 
sands of eggs in a single day, which are all carried by 
the workers into nurseries to be hatched. There is sel- 
dom more than one queen in a colony. 

The country would be overrun by white ants were it 
not that they are killed and used for food; or as slaves 
by the black ants. The latter are about half an inch 
long, with a slight tinge of gray. They follow a few 
leaders, who never do any work. They seem to be guided 
on their marauding expeditions by a scent left on the 
path by their leaders. 

The journey to Loanda, never undertaken before by 



DAVID LIVINGSTONE. 367 

a European, had its perils as well as intense interest. 
Livingstone had thirty-one attacks of fever during the 
journey. Sometimes chiefs opposed his progress, though 
in the main they were friendly ; but with great tact 
and wisdom, he always opened a way for himself and 
his men. They sailed up the Zambesi in canoes. They 
carried their burdens around falls — Livingstone made 
their loads very light, so as not to discourage them — 
he rode on ox-back when they went across the country^ 
and whenever it was possible he preached and reasoned 
with the different tribes, hundreds often gathering to 
hear him. 

Where the slave-trade did not exist, Livingstone 
found very little war. '^ Three brothers, Barolongs," 
he says, " fought for the possession of a woman who was 
considered worth a battle, and the tribe has remained 
permanently divided ever since.'' 

Among the Balondas he found several chiefs who 
were women. One named Nyamoana was the sister of 
Shint6, the greatest Balonda chief in that part of the 
country. The chief and her husband, the latter dressed 
in a kilt of green and red baize, and armed with a spear 
and broadsword, sat on a raised circular platform with 
one hundred armed persons surrounding them, when 
they received the first white man in their country. 

^* We put down our arms," says Livingstone, " about 
forty yards off, and I walked up to the centre of the 
circular bench, and saluted him in the usual way by 
clapping the hands together in their fashion. He pointed 
to his wife, as much as to say the honor belongs to her. 
I saluted her in the same way, and a mat having been 
brought, I squatted down in front of her." 

Livingstone explained liis mission among the people, 



368 DAVID LIVINGSTONE. 

which words his interpreter gave to another, he repeat- 
ing it to the husband, and he as the fourth speaker made 
it known to the queen. The response came back in the 
same manner. He showed the people his watch and 
compass. His magic lantern was also a never-failing 
source of pleasure to the people. 

The chief wished to send an escort to her brother 
Shinte, but insisted that they must go by land instead 
of by water, as the cataract was difficult to pass, and 
the Balobale tribe might kill them. 

Livingstone protested that he did not fear the tribe, 
having been so often threatened with death, and pre- 
ferred the water route. He ordered his men to take 
the baggage to the canoes ; but Manenko, the daughter 
of Nyamoana, a girl about twenty and a chief herself, 
gave other orders to the men and seized the burdens 
herself. Laying her hand on Livingstone's shoulder, 
she said with a motherly look, ^^Now, my little man, 
just do as the rest have done.'' ^^My feelings of annoy- 
ance of course vanished," says Livingstone. 

Manenko, accompanied by her husband and her 
drummer, lead the company in a pouring rain. " Being 
on ox-back," says the traveller, '' I kept pretty close to 
our leader, and asked her why she did not clothe her- 
self during the rain, and learned that it is not con- 
sidered proper for a chief to appear effeminate. . . . My 
men, in admiration of her pedestrian powers, every now 
and then remarked, ^ Manenko is a soldier ; ^ and 
thoroughly wet and cold, we were all glad when she 
proposed a halt to prepare our night's lodging on the 
banks of a stream." 

The company suffered from want of food, and would 
have had nothing save that Manenko begged maize for 



DAVID LIVINGSTONE. 869 

them, and ground it for the white man with her own 
hands. 

When they stopped at a village over night, the people 
took off the tops of their huts and brought them to 
Livingstone, who, propping them up with stakes, thus 
had a comfortable shelter. Every one who came to 
salute Manenko or himself rubbed the upper parts of 
the arms and chest with ashes ; those who wished to 
show profounder reverence put ashes on their faces. 

Shinte gave the explorer a grand reception. In the 
Kotla, or place of audience, on a throne covered with a 
leopard's skin, dressed in a checked jacket with kilt of 
scarlet baize edged w^ith green, his neck liung with 
beads, his limbs covered with iron and copper armlets 
and bracelets, a helmet crowned with goose feathers on 
his head, surrounded by over a thousand of his people, 
Shinte made an imposing appearance. Behind him sat 
a hundred women, the chief wife, Odena, in front with 
a curious red cap on her head. Nine speakers made 
orations, musical instruments w^ere played, and guns 
discharged. Livingstone and his men sat under a tree 
about forty yards from the chief. Shinte had never 
seen a white man before, and thought the traveller 
" had come from the gods." 

Livingstone made Shinte a present of an ox; but when 
Manenko, his niece, heard of it, she said, " This white 
man belonged to her ; she had brought him here, and 
therefore the ox was hers, not Shinte's." . . . She there- 
fore had the ox slaughtered, and gave Shinte a leg only. 
He made no complaint, her word seeming law here as 
elsewhere. 

Shinto offered Livingstone a slave girl ten years old, 
saying that he always presented his visitors with a 



370 DAVID LIVINGSTONE. 

child. Livingstone thanked him, but told him that he 
thought it wrong to take a child away from her parents ; 
that he had four children, and should be very sad if a 
chief took one and gave it away. 

On leaving the friendly chief, he hung a conical shell 
round the neck of Livingstone, saying, " There, now you 
have a proof of my friendship." 

Other chiefs were likewise courteous, giving him 
guides and food. Sometimes they shot one of their white 
cows for him, which run wild like buffaloes. Living- 
stone gave them presents, as many as his limited means 
allowed — cloth, beads, razors, and the like. One leading 
man, Mozinkwa, gave him many things from his garden, 
and the missionary promised the wife some cloth when 
he returned. When he came back on his homeward 
journey, the wife was dead, and according to their 
custom, Mozinkwa had moved away, leaving garden, 
trees, and huts to ruin. If a man ever visits the place 
where his favorite wife dies, it is to pray to her, or to 
make an offering. 

As ever, Livingstone took careful scientific observa- 
tions as to the country, its formation, the rivers, fruits, 
flowers, and animals. "If we step on shore,'' he says, 
" a species of plover ... follows you, flying overhead, 
and is most persevering in its attempts to give fair 
warning to all the animals within hearing to flee from 
the approaching danger." 

Another bird, by the name siksak, has a sharp spur on 
its shoulder, much like that on the heel of a cock, but 
scarcely half an inch in length. It is famed for its 
friendship with the crocodile of the Nile. 

In some of the almost impenetrable forests richly col- 
ored and peculiar birds abound. " The pretty white 



DAVID LIVINGSTONE. 871 

ardetta is seen in flocks settling on the backs of large 
h^rds of buffaloes, and following them on the wing as 
they run." 

Mr. Johnston says, '^ When the buffalo is quietly graz- 
ing, the red-billed w^eaver-bird may be seen hopping on 
the ground, snapping up insects and other food, or sitting 
on the buffalo's back, picking off the ticks with which 
its skin is infested. The sight of this bird being more 
acute than that of the buffalo, it is soon alarmed by the 
approach of danger, and, by flying up, apprises the buffalo 
of its suspicions. When the big beast gallops away from 
the approach of the slinking lion or the human hunter, 
the little weaver-bird sits calmly on its back and is 
borne off to fresh fields and pastures new." 

Another African bird is the companion of the rhino- 
ceros. It is called " Kala " by the Bechuanos. When 
they wish to speak of their dependence on each other, 
they say " my rhinoceros." The satellites of a chief are 
thus called. The rhinoceros feeds by night, and the 
bird will utter its well-known call for its big companion 
in the morning. The rhinoceros has not keen sight but 
an acute ear, and is therefore warned of danger by its 
bird-friend. 

Large herds of hippopotami are seen in the still, deep 
water. They ascend the banks to graze at night. " They 
are guided back to the w^ater by the scent; but a long- 
continued pouring rain makes it impossible for them to 
perceive, by that means, in which direction the river 
lies, and they are found bewildered on the land. The 
hunters take advantage of their helplessness on these 
occasions to kill them." 

They lie hidden beneath the water, coming up every 
few minutes to breathe. The young lie on the necks of 



872 DAVID LIVINGSTONE. 

their mothers^ who come frequently to the surface, 
knowing the needs of their little ones. "In the rivers 
of Loanda/^ says Livingstone, " where they are much in 
danger of being shot, even the hippopotamus gains wit by 
experience ; for, while those in the Zambesi put up their 
heads openly to blow, those referred to keep their noses 
among water-plants, and breathe so quietly that one 
would not dream of their existence in the river except 
by footprints on the banks." 

Large, yellow-spotted spiders abound. One kind is 
often found inside the huts of the Makololo. It is 
spotted, brown in color, and half an inch in diameter. 
" It is harmless, though an ugly neighbor,''' says Living- 
stone. 

There were many rivers to be forded, and swamps to be 
waded through. In crossing one stream the men held 
on to the tails of the oxen. Livingstone intended to do 
this; but in the deep part, before he could dismount, his 
ox dashed off with his companions. About twenty of 
the men rushed to the aid of Livingstone, whom they 
supposed would drown. Great was their joy when they 
found that he could swim like themselves. 

They laughed after this at the idea of being frightened 
by rivers. " We can all swim. Who carried the white 
man across the river but himself ? " "I felt proud of 
their praise," said Livingstone. 

" Sinbad," Livingstone's ox, was not a very agreeable 
animal. " He had a softer back," says Livingstone, 
" but a much more intractable temper. His horns were 
bent downward and hung loosely, so he could do no 
harm with them; but as we wended our way slowly 
along the narrow path, he would suddenly dart 
aside. . . . 



DAVID LIVINGSTONE. 873 

"When Sinbad ran in below a climber stretched over 
the path so low that I could not stoop under it, I was 
dragged off, and came down on the crown of my head ; 
and he never allowed an opportunity of the kind to pass 
without trying to inflict a kick, as if I neither had nor 
deserved his love/' 

The animal would never allow Livingstone to hold an 
umbrella, so that he was very often drenched. He fre- 
quently put his watch under his arm-pit to keep it dry. 

The tribe of Chiboque gave him some trouble, insist- 
ing that he should give a man to be a slave, as pay for 
a passage through their country. One Chiboque made a 
charge at his head from behind ; but Livingstone, who 
was as brave as he was kind, brought the muzzle of his 
gun to the mouth of the young man, when he quickly 
retreated. The tribe had been accustomed to receive a 
slave from every slave-trader who passed by, but Liv- 
ingstone informed them that his men were all free. 

Finally the chief said, " If you give us an ox, we will 
give you whatever you wish, and then we shall be 
friends." ... To this Livingstone consented ; and when 
the ox was slaughtered, the chief sent a bag of meal and 
two or three pounds of Livingstone's own ox ! 

The slave-trade, here as elsewhere, was always cruel 
and despicable. It was the custom of one of the chiefs 
in this part of the country to take all the goods of a 
slave-trader, and then send out a party to some neigh- 
boring village, seize all the people, and sell them as 
slaves to pay for the goods. When Livingstone reasoned 
with one of his head men as to the sin of such a course, 
he replied, " We do not go up to God, as you do ; we 
are put into the ground." 

The obstacles became so great from swamps and 



874 DAVID LIVINGSTONE. 

exorbitant chiefs wlio demanded "a man or an ox or a 
tusk/' that some of his own men determined to turn 
back. Worn to a skeleton from fever, and his clothing 
ragged, he informed them that he should go to the coast 
if he went alone, and sadly went into his tent to pray. 

His head man presently came in, and said, " Do not 
be disheartened ; we will never leave you. Wherever 
you lead, we will follow." They "knew no one but 
Sekeletu and Livingstone, and would die for him." 

When they reached the river Quango, one hundred 
and fifty yards broad, they were aided by a young Portu- 
guese sergeant of militia; and Livingstone finally reached 
Loanda in safety. May 31, with his twenty-seven fol- 
lowers. Here he was received most cordially by Mr. 
Edmund Gabriel, the British commissioner for the sup- 
pression of the slave-trade. 

His Makololo were astonished when they saw the 
ocean. -'^We were marching along with our father," 
they said, " believing what the ancients had told us was 
true, that the world had no end; but all at once the 
world said to us, ^I am finished; there is no more 
of me.' " 

He was so prostrated that he was urged to go to Eng- 
land and see his family ; but he steadfastly refused, for 
he had promised his Makololo that he would bring them 
back to their own land. He sent his journals, maps, 
and observations by the mail-packet Forerunner, which 
was lost off Madeira with all her passengers but one. 
Had not Livingstone kept his promise to his colored 
men, he, too, doubtless would have perished. 

It was a tiresome work to rewrite, as far as possible, 
his journals and maps : " A feat," says Thomas Hughes, 
^' equal to that of Carlyle in rewriting the volume of his 



DAVID LIVINGSTONE. 375 

French Revolution, after its destruction by John Stuart 
Mill's housemaid.'' 

This long journey, never before made by a white man, 
produced great interest in England. The London Geo- 
graphical Society, on motion of Sir Eoderick Murchison, 
awarded Livingstone their gold medal — their highest 
Jionor. 

On Sept. 20, 1854, he began his homeward journey. 
Among many presents for the chiefs he took a horse for 
Sekeletu, which soon sickened and died. The Chiboque 
head men were not much pleasanter than in the outward 
journey ; but when Livingstone held a six-barrelled re- 
volver before the face of the chief, the latter said, " Oh, 
I have only come to speak to you, and wish peace only.'^ 
The chief feared to turn lest Livingstone should shoot 
him in the back. 

"If I wanted to kill you I could shoot you in the face 
as well," was the reply. And mounting his ox, to show 
that he was not afraid of the chief's shooting him in the 
back, he rode away. 

Manenko sent her husband fifteen miles to meet and 
welcome them, and cement their friendship by becoming 
" blood-relations." The hands of the parties are joined ; 
then a slight cut is made on the hands, on the stomach 
of each, and on the right cheeks and foreheads. A 
small quantity of blood is taken from the wounds by a 
stalk of grass, and put into pots of beer, when each 
drinks the blood of the other. After this rite they are 
perpetual friends. Presents are then exchanged. 

All along on the homeward route they were warmly 
welcomed. Every village gave them an ox and some- 
times two. At the Makololo villages they were received 
as people who had risen from the dead, as it was believed 



376 DAVID LIVINGSTONE. 

they would never return. They were kissed on the 
cheeks and hands by their friends^ while the women 
danced and sang '' luUiloos." 

Whenever it was possible to send a letter to the loved 
ones in England, Livingstone did so. He wrote to his 
wife : " It occurs to me, my dearest Mary, that if I send 
you a note from different parts on the way through this 
colony, some of them will surely reach you ; and if they 
carry any of the affection I bear to you in their compo- 
sition, they will not fail to comfort you.'^ Speaking of 
Loanda, he says, after he had recovered from the fever, 
^^I remained a short time longer than that actually 
required to set me on my legs, in longing expectation of 
a letter from you. None came. . . . I hope a letter from 
you may be waiting for me at Zambesi. Love to all the 
children. Accept the assurance of unabated love.'^ 

Poor Sinbad, the ox, died on the way home, from the 
bite of the tsetse. This poisonous insect is no larger 
than the common house-fly, and is brown like the honey- 
bee, with three or four yellow bars on the hind part of 
its body. Its peculiar buzz is well known by travellers, 
as it is certain death to the ox, horse, and dog. There 
are whole sections of African country where cattle have 
perished by the thousands. Sebituane once lost nearly 
all the cattle of his tribe. There is no cure yet known 
for the disease. Its bite is not poisonous to man nor to 
most wild animals. 

Arriving at Linyanti, Livingstone spent eight weeks 
with" Sekeletu, who showed him every kindness. He 
preached often, he studied the languages, and he won 
the hearts of the people by his noble life. " ]N'o one ever 
gains much influence in this country," he said, " without 
purity and uprightness. The acts of a stranger are 



DAVID LIVINGSTONE. 377 

keenly scrutinized by both young and old; and seldom is 
the judgment pronounced^ even by the heathen, unfair or 
uncharitable. I have heard women speaking in admira- 
tion of a white man because he was pure, and never was 
guilty of any secret immorality.'^ 

Sekeletu provided Livingstone with cows to furnish 
him milk, slaughtered oxen for him, and when he de- 
parted, Nov. 3, 1855, for the eastern coast of Africa, to 
study the people and find suitable mission-fields, the 
chief and two hundred of his followers accompanied him 
for a long distance, leaving at their departure one hun- 
dred and fourteen men, Sekwebu being the principal 
guide, twelve oxen, — three for riding upon, — and an 
abundance of fresh butter and honey. 

Livingstone was deeply affected by this kind treat- 
ment. In a severe thunder-storm at night Sekeletu 
covered the traveller with his own blanket, and lay on 
the ground uncovered for the night. ^' If such men 
must perish by the advance of civilization,'' says Living- 
stone, ^^ as certain races of animals do before others, it 
is a pity. God grant that ere this time comes they may 
receive that gospel which is a solace for the soul in 
death ! " 

Mamire, the mother of Sekeletu, said to Livingstone 
on his departure, ^^ You are now going among people 
who cannot be trusted, because we have used them 
badly; but you go with a different message from any 
they ever heard before, and Jesus will be with you and 
help you, though among enemies." 

He had not gone very far along the Zambesi before he 
discovered the celebrated falls, which he named after 
his sovereign, Victoria Falls. Mr. Johnston calls this 
^^ One of the wonders of the world. . . . The broad 



378 DAVID LIVINGSTONE. 

Zambesij flowing nearly due south, and nineteen hundred 
yards wide, is cleft by a chasm — a crack in its bed — 
running athwart its course. The w^hole river plunges 
precipitously down this chasm to a depth of about three 
hundred and sixty feet, or, counting the depth of the 
w^ater, say four hundred feet. The entire volume of 
water rolls clear over quite unbroken ; but after a de- 
scent of four hundred feet the glassy cascade becomes 
a seething, bubbling, boiling froth, from which spring 
upwards high into the air, immense columns of steam- 
like spray." 

This mass of vapor, forming from three to six columns, 
becomes condensed, and descends in a perpetual shower 
of rain. The natives call this mighty cataract Mosio- 
atunya, '^ smoke sounds there.'' The verdure in this 
locality is of great variety and beauty. 

Some of the chiefs whom he met were hostile. They 
had never seen a white man before, and knew only that 
some other nations, as the Arabs, w^ere slave-traders. 

Livingstone showed them his skin. They said, '^ We 
never saw skin so white as that. . You must be one of 
the tribe that loves the black man," and they allowed 
him to go onward. 

One chief, Moyara, had fifty-four human skulls hung 
on the points of stakes around his hamlet. When asked 
w^hy his father, the chief before him, had killed these 
people, some of whom were mere boys, he replied, ^' To 
show his fierceness." 

If a man wished to curry favor wdtli a Batoka chief, 
whenever he met a stranger he cut off his head and 
brought it back to adorn the fence of the ruler. 

The Batoka smoke the ^^mutokwane," a weed whose 
narcotic effects they like ; and it produces a sort of frenzy 



DAVID LIVINGSTONE. 379 

in which they can make a more effective onslaught on 
their enemies. The hashish in use among tlie Turks 
is an extract of the same plant, the common hemp of 
the variety Indica. 

Much of the country through which they passed was 
beautiful in its flora. Of the many lilies Mr. Johnston 
says : ^^ Crimen is the commonest lily genus, and has 
species that are white, pink and white, and even scarlet 
in their blooms. To see, as one may do towards the 
close of the rainy season, fields near the river's bank or 
glades in the forest an almost uninterrupted sheet of 
lily blooms for several acres in extent, is a sight so 
lovely that you pardon Africa all its sins on the spot." 

There are also great fields of a flower like the crocus, 
purple, yellow, white, and mauve colors. After the 
flowers come bright red seed-pods, which contain the 
^^ grains of Paradise.'^ Livingstone studied carefully 
the geology of the country and the beasts and birds. 

The elephants were a source of great interest, as well 
as of use for food for his men. " The male and female 
elephants," he says, " are never seen in one herd. The 
young males remain with their dams only until they are 
full grown." Their food consists of bulbs, roots, and 
branches. They will break off trees as large as a man's 
body, that they may feed on the tender shoots at the 
top. 

When attacked by the spears of the natives, the 
mother elephant will place herself on the danger side 
of her calf, and pass her proboscis over it again and 
again, as if to assure it of safety. 

A bird called the red-beaked hornbill abounds. The 
mother-bird enters the nest made of her own feathers. 
The male then plasters up the hole in the tree in which 



880 DAVID LIVINGSTONE. 

the nest is built, leaving only a narrow slit through which 
he feeds her. She lays her eggs and hatches them, 
remaining two or three months till the birds are ready 
to fly. The male meantime becomes so thin that he not 
infrequently dies from his over-work to feed them all. 

The birds called honey-guides, by their chirping, direct 
men to the places where wild bees store their honey. 
It is not known whether this is done out of friendliness 
for man, or for a share of the honey, which is always 
given them. 

The men of some of the tribes were quite nude. The 
women pierced the upper lip, gradually enlarging the 
orifice till they could insert a shell. " The deformed lips 
of the women make them look very ugly,'^ says Living- 
stone ; " I never saw one smile.'^ When asked why they 
did this, they replied simply, "It is the fashion.'^ When 
a chief died, often his servants were killed, that he might 
have them in the next world. 

Some tribes built their huts on high stages to protect 
them from spotted hyenas, lions, and elephants. The 
wives are usually purchased of the parents for so many 
cattle or goats. "If nothing is given, the family from 
which she has come can claim the children as a part of 
itself. The payment is made to sever this bond.^^ 

" When a young man takes a liking for a girl of an- 
other village,'^ says Livingstone, "and the parents haVe 
no objection to the match, he is obliged to come and live 
at their village. He has to perform certain services for 
the mother-in-law, such as keeping her well supplied 
Avith firewood. ... If he becomes tired of living in this 
state of vassalage, and wishes to return to his own ^ 
family, he is obliged to leave all his children behind- 
they belong to the wife.'^ 



DAVID LIVINGSTONE. 381 

On May 20, 1856, Livingstone reached Quilimanej on 
the eastern coast of Africa. He met a cordial welcome 
from the Portuguese, who had felt sure that no European 
could pass through the dangerous tribes. Two Scripture 
texts were of especial comfort to him in all his journeys: 
^^ In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct 
thy steps." ^^ Commit thy way unto the Lord ; trust also 
in Him ; and He shall bring it to pass.'' 

After six weeks at Quilimane, Livingstone started for 
England to see his family, from whom he had not even 
heard for three years, leaving his men with the promise 
^Hhat nothing but death should prevent his return.'' 
He sailed on the steamer Frolic, taking liis guide, 
Sekwebu, with him at the earnest request of the latter. 

^' You will die if you go to a country so cold as mine," 
Livingstone had said to him. 

"That is nothing," he answered; "let me die at your 
feet." 

The passage was rough, and the poor man became 
deranged. He leaped overboard ; and though he could 
swim well, he pulled himself down, hand under hand, by 
the chain cable. They could not recover his body. 

The shaft of the engine broke on the passage home- 
ward, but Livingstone finally reached England, Dec. 12, 
1856. Nearly five years had passed since he had seen 
his wife and children. To her with her four children, 
away from husband and parents. Dr. and Mrs. Moffat, 
in a strange country, the separation was almost unbear- 
able. Her health had broken under the strain. 

She had penned this simple but touching poem to give 
him when he came, with the hope that they should 
never be parted again. The final parting was not long 



382 DAVID LIVINGSTONE. 

** A limulred thousand welcomes, and it's time for you to come 
From the far land of the foreigner, to your country and your 

home. 
Oh, long as we were parted, ever since you went away, 
I never passed a dreamless night, or knew an easy day. 

A hundred thousand welcomes ! how my heart is gushing o'er 
With the love and joy and wonder thus to see your face once 

more. 
How did I live without you these long, long years of woe ? 
It seems as if 'twould kill me to he parted from you now. 

You'll never part me, darling, there's a promise in your eye ; 
I may tend you while I'm living, you will watch me when I 

die ; 
And if death but kindly lead me to the blessed home on high, 
What a hundred thousand welcomes will await you in the sky! 

Maky." 

Livingstone had been away from England sixteen 
years. He was everywhere welcomed with ovations. 
The Royal Geographical Society held a special meeting 
to receive him. The London Missionary Society, witli 
Lord Shaftesbury in the chair, gave him cordial greeting. 
A great gathering assembled at the Mansion House to do 
honor to the man who had travelled at that time over 
not less than eleven thousand miles of Africa. He was 
given the freedom of the city of London in a box valued 
at fifty guineas, and of Hamilton, where his mother and 
the rest of his family resided. Glasgow presented him 
a gold box with the freedom of the city, and a gift of 
two thousand pounds from the citizens. 

To the cotton-spinners of that city he said that toil 
belonged to most of the human race, and to be poor was 
no reproach. The Saviour occupied a humble position. 
" My great object,'' he said, "was to be like Him — to 



DAVID LIVINGSTONE. 383 

imitate him as far as He could be imitated. We have 
not the power of working miracles, but we can do a 
little in the way of healing the sick, and I sought a 
medical education in order that I might be like Him/' 

Edinburgh and Dublin and Manchester followed the 
example of Glasgow. Little Biantyre, where he had 
worked in the mills, gave him a public reception. Ox- 
ford made him D.C.L., Glasgow an LL.D., ' and the 
Eoyal Society made him a Fellow. At Cambridge, where 
he enjoyed the friendship of such men as Sedgwick, 
Whewell, and Selwyn, he practically formed the Univer- 
sities Mission, which has wrought such a noble work in 
Central Africa. He said to the students and the pro- 
fessors, '^ I know that in a few years I shall be cut off in 
that country, which is now open. Do not let it be shut 
again. I go back to Africa to make an open path for 
commerce and Christianity. Do you carry out the work 
which I have begun. / leave if luith you ! '' 

Concerning the work of the Universities Mission, Mr. 
Thomas Hughes says : '' From the island centre at 
Zanzibar the mission has now spread over one thousand 
miles of the neighboring mainland. Its staff, including 
the bishop and three archdeacons, numbers ninety-seven, 
of whom two deacons and thirty-two teachers and readers 
are natives, and nineteen English ladies. Its income 
for 1887 exceeded fifteen thousand five hundred pounds. 
It has three stations on the island and ten on the 
mainland.'' One station has a fine stone cliurch, and 
a home for one hundred and fifteen boys. A sister- 
hood trains large classes of women. 

Livingstone took lodgings in Chelsea, just out of 
London, and, surrounded by his family, wrote his first 
book, ^' Missionary Journeys and Researches in South 



884 DAVID LIVINGSTONE. 

Africa/^ The work was irksome to the active man. 
When it was finished, he said, " I think I would 
rather cross the African continent again than undertake 
to write another book. It is far easier to travel than to 
write about it." The book had a large sale, the London 
trade alone requiring ten thousand copies. Livingstone 
having been appointed Her Majesty's Consul at Quili- 
manefor^ie east coast of Africa as well as commander of 
an expedition to explore Eastern and Central Africa, — 
the Queen had granted him a most interesting private in- 
terview, — he sailed from England with his wife and 
youngest child, Oswell, March 10, 1858. It was a sad 
parting from the three children, Robert, Thomas, and 
Agnes, but he rejoiced that his wife was at last with 
him. " Glad indeed am I that I am to be accompanied 
by my guardian angel,'' he said. 

On their arrival at Cape Town, in May, Mrs. Living- 
stone's health was so poor that although she had hoped 
to make the second Zambesi expedition with her hus- 
band, she, with Oswell, was obliged to remain with her 
parents, Dr. and Mrs. Moffat. 

Livingstone had brought out a steam-launch from 
England named the Ma-Eobert (the mother of Eobert), 
the name by which his wife was called by the natives. 
In this he sailed up one branch of the Zambesi Delta. 
On reaching his Makololo, whom he had left behind 
when he went to England, he found that thirty had 
died of small-pox, while six had been murdered by the 
black Portuguese. They welcomed him w4th the greatest 
enthusiasm. The people had told them, '' Your English- 
man will never return;'^ but "We trusted you,'^ said 
they, " and now we shall sleep." 

The Ma-Robert did not prove a good launch; and 



DAVID LIVINGSTONE, 885 

the government sent out another called the Pioneer^ 
for the navigation of the Zambesi and lower Shire 
River. 

He sailed up the Shire for two hundred miles to 
some cataracts, — these extend seventy miles, — which 
he named Murchison in honor of Sir Roderick Murchi- 
son ; he discovered Lake Shirwa, a salt lake, more than 
sixty miles long, in the midst of a fine country sur- 
rounded by mountains eight thousand feet high. 

Professor Henry Drummond visited Lake Shirwa 
thirty years afterwards, when a very aged female chief 
came to see him, and spoke kindly of a white man who 
came to her village long, long ago, and gave her a 
present of cloth. This must have been David Living- 
stone. Though Shirwa is one of the smaller African 
lakes. Professor Drummond says it is probably larger 
than all the lakes of Great Britain put together. 

On Sept. 16, 1859, Livingstone discovered Lake 
Nyassa. ^^ Instead of being one hundred and fifty miles 
long," says Professor Drummond, " as first supposed. 
Lake Nyassa is now known to have a length of three 
hundred and fifty miles, and a breadth varying from 
sixteen to sixty miles. It occupies a gigantic trough of 
granite and gneiss, the profoundly deep water standing 
at a level of sixteen hundred feet above the sea, with 
the mountains rising all around it, and sometimes sheer 
above it, to a height of one, two, three, and four 
thousand feet." 

On this lake now plies the little steamer Ilala, so 
named from the place where Livingstone died. She 
was carried thither from England in seven hundred 
pieces, and bolted together on the shore. " The bright 
spot now on the lake is the Scotch Livingstonia Mission 



386 DAVID LIVINGSTONE. 

at Bandawe/' says Professor Drummond. '- 1 cherish 
no more sacred memory of my life than that of a com- 
munion service in tlie little Bandawe chapel, when the 
sacramenta.1 cup was handed to me by the bare black 
arm of a native communicant," whose life, he says, tested 
afterwards on the Tanganyika plateau, ^^ gave him per- 
haps a better right to be there than any of us." 

In this lake region Livingstone beheld, though not 
for the first time, the horrors of the slave-trade. At 
the village of the chief Mbame they met a slave party 
on its way to Tete, on the Zambesi. The men, women, 
and children were all manacled. '^ The black drivers," 
says Livingstone, ^- armed with muskets, and bedecked 
with various articles of finery, marched jauntily in the 
front, middle, and rear of the line, some of them blow- 
ing exultant notes out of long tin horns." 

As soon as they saw the white men, they fled into the 
forest, knowing that the English Government was try- 
ing to put down slavery. The poor slaves, especially 
the women and children, were soon freed. '' It was more 
difficult to cut the men adrift, as each had his neck 
in the fork of a stout stick, six or seven feet long, and 
kept in by an iron rod vv^hich was riveted at both ends 
across the throat. With a saw, one by one, the men 
were sawed out into freedom." 

Many were children not more than five years of age. 
One little boy said, '^ The others tied and starved us ; 
you cut the ropes and tell us to eat. What sort of people 
are you ? Where did you come from ? " 

^' Two of the women had been shot the day before 
for attempting to untie the thongs. This, the rest were 
told, was to prevent them from attempting to escape. 
One woman had her infant's brains knocked out because 



DAVID LIVINGSTONE. 387 

slie could not carry her load and it ; and a man was 
despatched with an axe because he had broken down 
with fatigue.'' 

The next day a gang of iifty slaves was freed. The 
leader was the negro agent of one of the principal 
merchants of Tete. Sometimes these slaves are taken 
in war ; but generally their village is wantonly attacked, 
and those who cannot be enslaved are cruelly killed. 
At this time it was estimated by the British Consul at 
Zanzibar that nineteen thousand slaves annually come 
from the Nyassa country through the custom-house at 
Zanzibar, exclusive of those sent to Portuguese slave- 
ports. 

At one of the hamlets where Mariano, the great 
Portuguese slave-agent, had been, ^^Dead bodies,'' says 
Livingstone, ^^ floated past us daily, and in the mornings 
the paddles had to be cleared of corpses caught by the 
floats during the night. . . . The corpses we saw float- 
ing down the river were only a remnant of those that 
had perished, whom their friends, from weakness, could 
not bury, nor the overgorged crocodiles devour." 

Village after village had been burned. ^^ Tingane had 
been defeated ; his people had been killed, kidnapped, 
and forced to flee from their villages. There were a few 
wretched survivors in a village above the Kuo, but the 
majority of the population was dead. The sight and 
smell of dead bodies was everywhere. Many skeletons 
lay beside the path, where in their weakness they had 
fallen and expired. Ghastly living forms of boys and 
girls, with dull dead eyes, were crouching beside some of 
the huts. . . . 

^^Many had ended their misery under shady trees, 
others under projecting crags in the hills, while others 



388 DAVID LIVINGSTONE. 

lay in their huts with closed doors, which, when opened, 
disclosed the mouldering corpse with the poor rags 
round the loins, the skull fallen off the pillow, the little 
skeleton of the child that had perished first rolled up 
in a mat between two large skeletons/^ 

Sometimes these slave-traders, both Arab and half- 
caste Portuguese, told the Africans, to win their confi- 
dence at first before seizing them, that they were " the 
children '^ of Livingstone, and sometimes the mission- 
ary came near losing his life on account of the hostility 
thus engendered. 

On May 15, 1860, Livingstone started westward with 
his Makololo, to take them back to their own country. 
When they reached it, he found their chief, Sekele- 
tu, slowly failing from leprosy. He did all for him 
that was possible ; but his health could not be restored, 
and he died in 1864. A civil war resulted, and the 
Makololo were driven from their homes. Livingstone 
returned to Tete Nov. 21, having been absent six 
months. 

After farther explorations, on Jan. 30, 1862, her 
Majesty's ship Gorgon arrived from Europe, bringing 
the steamer Lady Nyassa, for which Livingstone had 
asked so earnestly and waited so long. He wanted her 
on Lake Nyassa, as a preventive of the slave-trade, to 
aid in mission work, and to help open up trade. 

He wrote to Sir Eoderick Murchison : ^^ If govern- 
ment furnishes the means, all right; if not, I shall 
spend my book-money on it. I don't need to touch the 
children's fund, and mine could not be better spent. 
People who are born rich sometimes become miserable 
from a fear of becoming poor ; but I have the advan- 
tage, you see, in not being afraid to die poor. If I live, 



DAVID LIVINGSTONE. 389 

I must succeed in what I have undertaken ; death alone 
will put a stop to my efforts/' 

The government did not pay for the steamer, and she 
cost Livingstone about six thousand pounds, the greater 
part of his book profits. 

Mrs. Livingstone was also on the Gorgon. She had 
gone back to Scotland after the birth of her last child, 
Anna Mary, Nov. 16, 1858, at her father's home in 
Kuruman. Evidently she could not breast the fatigues 
of African exploration, but she would make one more 
trial. 

When the ship neared the coast, and Dr. James Stew- 
art of the Free Church of Scotland saw Livingstone in 
the distance, he said to Mrs. Livingstone, '' There he is 
at last." ^^ She looked brighter at this announcement," 
he says, '^ than I had seen her do any day for seven 
months before." 

The meeting was not for long. ^^ Malarial fever," says 
Professor Drummond, " is the one sad certainty which 
every African traveller must face. For months he may 
escape; but its finger is upon him, and well for him if he 
has a friend near when it finally overtakes him. . . . He 
rises, if he does rise, a shadow, and slowly accumulates 
strength for the next attack, which he knows too well 
will not disappoint him. . . . The malaria spares no 
man : the strong fall as the weak. No kind of care can do 
more than make the attacks less frequent. No prediction 
can be made beforehand as to which regions are haunted 
by it and which are safe." 

The dread enemy came to Mrs. Livingstone on 
April 21 ; on the 25th she became delirious with the 
fever ; at sunset on Sunday, the 27th, she died at Shu- 
panga, on the Zambesi. Dr. Stewart says of that last 



390 DAVID LIVINGSTONE. 

sad scene, " Livingstone was sitting by the side of a rude 
bed formed of boxes, but covered with a soft mattress, 
on which lay his dying wife. All consciousness had 
now departed, as she was in a state of deep coma, from 
which all efforts to rouse her had been unavailing. . . . 
The man who had faced so many deaths, and braved so 
many dangers, was now utterly broken down, and weep- 
ing like a child." 

A coffin was made during the night, and a grave was 
dug next day under a baobab-tree sixty feet in cir- 
cumference. ^^ The men asked to he allowed to mount 
guard,'^ says her husband, ^^ till we had got the grave 
built up, and we had it built with bricks dug from an 
old house.'' A temporary paling and wooden cross were 
placed at the grave ; and these were subsequently re- 
placed by a stone cross and slab, with an iron railing. 

Livingstone wrote in his journal: "It, is the first 
heavy stroke I have suffered, and quite takes away my 
strength. I wept over her who well deserved many 
tears. . . . God pity the poor children, who were all 
tenderly attached to her, and I am left alone in the 
world by one whom I felt to be a part of myself. . . . 
Oh, my Mary, my Mary ! how often we have longed for 
a quiet home, since you and I were cast adrift at Kolo- 
beng'! . . . The prayer was found in her papers — 
^Accept me, Lord, as lam, and make me such as Thou 
wouldst have me to be.' " 

He wrote later, May 11, Kongone : "My dear, dear 
Mary has been this evening a fortnight in heaven — ab- 
sent from the body, present with the Lord. ^To-day 
shalt thou be with me in Paradise.' . . . For the first 
time in my life I feel willing to die." 

Mrs. Livingstone had a strong presentiment of death 



DAVID LIVINGSTONE, 391 

being neaii. She felt that she should never have a house 
in Africa. 

May 31, he writes in his journal: ^^The loss of my 
ever dear Mary lies like a heavy weight on my heart. 
In our intercourse in private there was more than what 
would be thought by some a decorous amount of merri- 
ment and play. I said to her a few days before her 
fatal illness, ^We old bodies ought now to be more 
sober, and not play so much.' — ^ Oh, no,' said she, ''you 
must always be as playful as you have always been ; I 
would not like you to be as grave as some folks I have 
seen.' " 

To his daughter Agnes he wrote: ^^I feel alone in 
the world now, and what will the poor dear baby do 
without her mamma ? She often spoke of her, and 
sometimes burst into a flood of tears, just as I now do 
in taking up and arranging the things left by my beloved 
partner of eighteen years." 

To Sir Roderick Murchison he wrote concerning his 
wife, who, beside the care of Iier family, had taught so 
successfully an infant and sewing school : " It was a 
fine sight to see her day by day walking a quarter of a 
mile to the town, no matter how broiling hot the sun, to 
impart instruction to the Bakwains. Ma-Robert's name 
was known through all the country and eighteen hun- 
dred miles beyond. A brave, good woman was she." 

Later he wrote to Sir Roderick concerning the Zam- 
besi as the great highway to Lake Nyassa : ^^It may 
seem to some persons weak to feel a chord vibrating to 
the dust of her who rests on the banks of the Zambesi, 
and to think that the path by that river is consecrated 
by her remains." 

To Sir Thomas Maclear he wrote : ^^I suppose that 



392 DAVID LIVINGSTONE. 

I shall die in these uplands, and somebody .will carry 
out the plan I have longed to put into practice. ... I 
work with as much vigor as I can, and mean to do so 
till the change comes ; but the prospect of a home ig all 
dispelled." 

April 27, 1863, his journal reads : " On this day 
twelvemonths my beloved Mary Moffat was removed 
from me by death.'' 

And then he quotes a verse from Tennyson's ^^ May 
Queen," beginning, — 

** If I can, I'll come again, mother, from out my resting-place.'' 

Livingstone was a great lover of the poets, and was 
familiar with those of America as well as Europe. Many 
poems of Longfellow and Whittier he knew by heart. 
Several poems w^re fastened inside the boards of his 
journals. 

The explorations now went on for some months, till 
the English government, in view of the deaths of many 
missionaries who had come out, and the expense attend- 
ing the expedition, recalled it. 

This was a sore trial to Livingstone, but he acquiesced, 
sending the Pioneer and her seamen home. He could 
have sold the Lady Nyassa to the Portuguese ; but to 
this lie would never consent, as he knew she would be 
used in the slave-trade. He therefore took her to 
Bombay, India, twenty-five hundred miles away, across 
the Indian Ocean. He was captain and pilot, the same 
self-dependent, fearless traveller that he had been in the 
wilds of Africa, He was forty-five days at sea ; during 
twenty-five of these his ship was becalmed. He could 
not sell her at once, but did so later, receiving only 



DAVID LIVINGSTONE. 393 

twenty-three hundred pounds for that which had cost 
him six thousand pounds. This money he deposited in 
an Indian bank which failed, so that he lost the whole 
of it. He simply remarked, " The whole of the money 
she cost was dedicated to the great cause for which she 
was built — we are not responsible for results.'' 

From India he sailed to England, arriving at Charing 
Cross Station, July 23> 1864. As before, he was cordially 
welcomed. He attended receptions at Lady Palmer- 
ston's and the Duchess of Wellington's, and lunched 
with Baroness Burdett Coutts and Lady Franklin, though 
he had little love for general society. He hastened to 
see his mother and children at Hamilton, planted trees 
while on a visit to the Duke of Argyle, and then with 
his daughter Agnes went to ISTewstead Abbey, Notting- 
hamshire, where at the residence of his friend, Mr. 
William F. Webb, formerly the home of Lord Byron, 
he wrote his second work, " The Zambesi and its Tribu- 
taries." Here he remained for eight months, writing 
his book in the Sussex Tower, working sometimes till 
two o'clock in the morning. 

While at the Abbey, in June, he received the news of 
his mother's death, and hastened to the funeral. He 
records in his journal : " Seeing the end was near, sis- 
ter Agnes said, ' The Saviour has come for you, mother ; 
you can " lippen " yourself to Him ! ' She replied, ^ Oh, 
yes.' Little Anna Mary was held up to her. She gave 
her the last look, and said, ' Bonnie wee lassie,' gave a 
few long inspirations, and all was still. . . . When 
going away in 1858, she said to me that she would have 
liked one of her laddies to lay her head in the grave. 
It so happened that I was there to pay the lUst tribute 
to a dear good mother.'^ 



394 DAVID LIVINGSTONE, 

His last act in Scotland was to attend an examination 
of his son Oswell's school, where prizes were given. In 
making his address, he closed it with these words, — 
his last public words in Scotland, — ^^Fear God, and 

WORK HARD." 

Livingstone started on his third and last journey to 
Africa, Aug. 19, 1865. The government and Geo- 
graphical Society each furnished him five hundred 
pounds, and a friend, Mr. James Young of Glasgow, 
one thousand pounds. He was continued as consul, 
but without salary. He reached Zanzibar in January, 
1866, and began his journey with thirteen sepoys, ten 
Johanna men, nine Nassick boys, two Shupanga, — one of 
these was Susi, — and two Waiyau men, of whom one was 
Chuma. The latter was originally a slave, whom Living- 
stone had freed in the Shire Highlands. They had six 
camels, three Indian buffaloes and a calf, two mules, 
four donkeys, and a poodle dog named Chitane. 

The sepoys were almost useless, beat the poor camels 
with sticks, overloaded and neglected to feed them, so 
that in a month two camels and one buffalo were dead, 
one camel a skeleton from bad sores made from their 
sticks, one buffalo exhausted, and one mule very ill. 
Though repeatedly reproved by Livingstone, they com- 
mitted their brutalities when he was not in sight. They 
killed the last young buffalo calf and ate it, telling 
Livingstone that they saw a tiger carry it away and 
devour it before their eyes. Livingstone asked if they 
saw the stripes, and they all declared that they did. 
This of course proved their falsehood, as there are no 
tigers in Africa. Finally in July he sent them back to 
the coast. 

In September the Johanna men deserted, and returned 



BAVIB LIVINGSTONE, 895 

to Zanzibar. They reported that Livingstone was dead, 
which was disproved by a search expedition sent out 
from England, under Mr. Edward Young, in May, 1867. 

The little poodle Chitane was drowned in swimming 
across the Chimbwe Eiver, a mile wide, between Lakes 
ISTyassa and Tanganyika. '' He had more spunk in him,'^ 
said Livingstone, ^^than a hundred country dogs, took 
charge of the whole line of march, ran to see the first 
man in the line, and then back to the last, and barked 
to haul him up ; and then, when he knew what hut I 
occupied, would not let a country cur come in sight of 
it, and never stole himself." 

From "Livingstone's Last Journals," compiled after his 
death, we learn of those last tiresome but fruitful jour- 
neys. They marched along the banks of the Eovuma 
Elver to Lake Ny assa, reaching it Aug. 8. He • found, 
of the tribes along their route, that the Makonde know 
nothing of a Deity, but pray to their mothers when in 
distress or dying. The head man of the Manganjas 
confided to Livingstone his afflictions, as did many of 
the people. A wife had run away. The traveller asked 
him how many he had. When he said twenty in all, 
Livingstone told him he thought he had nineteen too 
many. " But who would cook for strangers, if I had 
but one ? " he naively asked. 

The chief Mponda wished to go away with Living- 
stone, and did not care if he were absent for ten years. 

Many of the people were tattooed, and had large slits 
in the lobes of the ear. Their teeth were sharpened to a 
point, and some of them had the two front teeth knocked 
out. 

The Livingstone party reached the river Loangwa 
Dec. 16. About this time they suffered much from the 



896 DAVID LIVINGSTONE. 

lack of food. He says in his journal : ^^ Simon gave me 
a little of his meal and went without himself. I took 
my belt up three holes to relieve hunger." 

Often they waded through rivers and marshes up to 
the thigh. Jan. 12 he writes : '^ Sitting down this 
morning near a tree, my head was just one yard off a 
good-sized cobra, coiled up in the sprouts of its roots ; 
but it was benumbed with cold. A very pretty little 
puff adder lay in the path also benumbed.'^ 

Jan. 20 two Waiyaus deserted, one of them taking off 
Livingstone's invaluable medicine-chest. A boy, Baroha, 
had been carrying it most carefully, and he and the . 
Waiyau had exchanged loads for a short time. '' I felt 
as if I had now received the sentence of death," Living- 
stone wrote in his journal. ... ^^It is difficult to say 
from the heart, ^ Thy will be done;' but I shall try." 
Yet, as ever, he has an excuse for the poor creatures. 
He adds: " These Waiyau had few advantages. Sold 
into slavery in early life, they were in the worst possible 
school for learning to be honest and honorable ; they be- 
haved well for a long time ; but having had hard and 
scanty fare in Lobisa, wet and misery in passing through 
dripping forests, hungry nights, and fatiguing days, their 
patience must have been worn out. . . . Yet the loss of 
this medicine-box gnaws at the heart terribly." 

Livingstone had the greatest possible tact with all the 
chiefs, always talking to them against slavery and war, 
and opening their minds as far as possible to good things. 
One chief, Moamba, said, " What do you wish to buy, if 
not slaves or ivory ? " 

" I replied," says Livingstone, " that the only thing I 
had seen worth buying was a fine fat chief like him, as 
a specimen." 



I 



DAVID LIVINGSTONE. 397 

He and many of the others drank a kind of beer made 
from the grain of millet. To some this beer is almost 
food; but the result is they have poor constitutions, and 
easily succumb to a slight illness. 

On April 1, 1867, Livingstone reached Lake Tangan- 
yika, over thirty miles broad and about four hundred 
and fifty miles in length. '^ After being a fortnight at 
this lake/' says Livingstone, ^^it still appears one of 
surpassing loveliness. ... It lies in a deep basin whose 
sides are nearly perpendicular, but covered well with 
trees ; the rocks which appear are bright red argillaceous 
schist ; the trees at present all green ; down some of 
these rocks come beautiful cascades, and buffaloes, ele- 
phants, and antelopes wander and graze on the more level 
spots, while lions roar by night.'' 

Here Livingstone had several fits of insensibility from 
fever, and had no medicine with which to cure himself. 

He discovered Lake Moero, sixty miles long, on Nov. 
8, 1867. He met with a grand reception from Casembe, 
a chief who cut off his peoples' hands and ears for vari- 
ous offences. His principal wife, with light-^brown 
complexion, was carried about in a sort of palanquin, by 
a dozen men, while a number of men ran before her, 
brandishing swords and battle-axes, one man beating a 
hollow instrument to warn people to clear the way for 
the queen. A bride or a chief is often carried on a man's 
shoulders. 

In Casembe's country if a child cuts the upper front 
teeth before the lower, it is killed, as unlucky. If a child 
is seen to turn from one side to the other in sleep, it is 
killed. If Casembe dreams of any man twice or three 
times, he puts him to death, lest the man may practise 
some secret art a^^rainst the chiefs life. 



398 DAVID LIVINGSTONE. 

Many of the tribes asked for '^ gun medicine," so that 
they could shoot straight, and desired to " drink medi- 
cine/^ so as to understand how to learn to read. 

Jan. 1, 1868, Livingstone writes in his journal : ^^ Al- 
mighty Father, help me to be more profitable during 
this year. If I am to die this year, prepare me for it." 

Several more of the explorer's men deserted him, but 
he, as ever before, excused them. ^^I did not blame 
them very severely in my own mind for absconding," he 
said ; '^ they were tired of tramping, and so, verily, am I." 

In early spring he saw marigolds in full bloom all over 
the forests, and foxgloves also. In June he came to a 
grave in the forest, a little rounded mound, as if the 
occupant sat in it in the usual native way. It had flour 
and large blue beads strewn over it. ^^This is the sort 
of grave I should prefer," Livingstone wrote : " to lie in 
the still, still forest, and no hand ever dist-urb my bones. 
The graves at home always seem to me t-o be miserable, 
especially those in the cold, damp clay, and without el- 
bow room ; but I have nothing to do but wait till He 
who is over all decides where to lay me down and die. 
Poor Mary lies on Shupanga brae, ' and beeks foment 
the sun.' " 

July 18, 1868, Livingstone discovered Lake Bangweolo, 
one of the largest lakes of Central Africa. He sailed 
upon it in a canoe forty-five feet long and four feet 
broad. 

When the New Year came he was so ill that he had 
to be carried in a litter made of boughs. He reached 
the great Arab settlement at Ujiji, on the eastern shore 
of Lake Tanganyika, March 14, 1869, only to find that 
the stores which he had ordered sent by caravans from 
Zanzibar had been plundered and scattered far and wide. 



DAVID LIVINGSTONE. 399 

Sixty-two out of eighty pieces of cloth, each piece con- 
taining twenty-four yards, had been disposed of. The 
buffaloes had all died on the way. Here he wrote some 
letters, and sent them by the Arabs to the coast, but 
they were never delivered. 

All through these last journeys he had been saddened 
by the enormities of the slave-traders. " Slavery is a 
great evil wherever I have seen it/' he writes in his 
journal. " A poor old woman and child are among the 
captives. The boy, about three years old, seems a mother's 
pet ; his feet are sore from walking in the sun. He was 
offered for two fathoms [four yards of unbleached calico], 
and his mother for one fathom. He understood it all, and 
cried bitterly, clinging to his mother. She had, of course, 
no power to help him.'' 

Again he writes : " We passed a woman tied by the 
neck to a tree, and dead. The people of the country 
explained that she had been unable to keep up with the 
other slaves in a gang, and her master had determined 
that she should not become the property of any one else 
if she recovered after resting for a time." Others were 
lying in the path, shot or stabbed. 

" One of our men wandered and found a number of 
slaves with slave-sticks on [these yokes weigh from thirty 
to forty pounds], abandoned by their master for want of 
food. They were too weak to be able to speak, or say 
where they had com.e from ; some were quite young." 

The slave-gangs numbered several hundred in each. 
When far enough from their own country so as not to 
run away, the slave-sticks were usually removed. Great 
numbers of the slaves died from sobbing and " heart- 
breaking." They would talk of their wives and children 
to the last, and sink down and die from no apparent 



400 DAVID LIVINGSTONE. 

disease. The slavers would express surprise that people 
should die while they had plenty to eat and no work. 

^^ Children for a time would keep up with wonderful 
endurance ; but it happened sometimes that the sound 
of dancing and the merry tinkle of the small drums 
would fall on their ears, in passing near to a village ; 
then the memory of home and happy days proved too 
much for them ; they cried and sobbed, the ' broken 
heart ^ came on, and they rapidly sank.'^ 

Since Livingstone's death the Arab slave-raids have 
been worse than ever. Professor Henry Drummond, 
in Scribner^s Magazine for June, 1889, gives some de- 
tails of this dreadful traffic. Cardinal Lavigerie, Arch- 
bishop of Algiers, and Roman Catholic Primate of 
Africa, estimates that two millions of lives are de- 
stroyed yearly in Africa through the horrors of the 
slave-trade. 

" The men who appear the strongest,^^ said Cardinal 
Lavigerie, in an address delivered in London, "and 
whose escape is to be feared, have their hands tied, and 
sometimes their feet, in such fashion that walking be- 
comes a torture to them ; and on their necks are placed 
yokes which attach several of them together. They march 
all day ; at night, when they stop to rest, a few handfuls 
of raw ' sorgho ' are distributed among the captives. This 
is all their food. Next morning they must start 
again. . . . 

" The women and the aged are the first to halt. Then, 
in order to strike terror into this miserable mass of 
human beings, their conductors, armed with a wooden 
bar to economize powder^ approach those who appear to 
be the most exhausted, and deal them a terrible blow on 
the nape of the neck. The unfortunate victims utter 



DAVID LIVINGSTONE, 401 

a cry, and fall to the ground in the convulsions of 
death. ... 

" If, goaded by their cruel sufferings, some attempt to 
rebel or escape, their fierce masters cut them down with 
their swords, and leave them as they lie along the road, 
attached to one another by their yokes. Therefore it 
has been truly said that, if a traveller lost the way lead- 
ing from Equatorial Africa to the towns where slaves 
are sold, he could easily find it again by the skeletons of 
the negroes with which it is strewed.'^ 

Professor Drummond quotes from Stanley in his book 
on the Congo. The latter tells of 118 villages with 
probably 1,000 persons in each, and 43 tribal districts 
devastated by fire and sword, that 2,300 women and 
children might be captured by these Arab slave- 
dealers. 

" If each expedition has been as successful as this, the 
slave-traders have been enabled to obtain 5,000 women 
and children safe to Nyangwe, Kirundu, and Yibondo, 
above the Stanley Palls. This 5,000 out of an annual 
million will be at the rate of a half per cent, or 5 slaves 
out of 1,000 people. This is poor profit out of such 
large waste of life." 

This Scribner article by Professor Drummond, and a 
map of Central Africa showing what is possible for the 
suppression of the slave-trade, may be obtained free by 
addressing Mr. C. P. Huntington, 23 Broad Street, New 
York City, who has taken a deep interest in the subject. 

The present condition of the slave-trade and the suc- 
cess attending the efforts of several nations to suppress 
it, are shown in a valuable article by Stanley in Harper^s 
Magazine for March, 1893, on " Slavery and the Slave- 
trade in Africa." The founding of the Congo Free 



402 DAVID LIVINGSTONE 

State, with its military stations and trade, has been a 
wonderful check to the awful traffic. Missions have 
been another powerful factor. The Congo Eailway, now 
building, with the steamers now plying on the large 
lakes, will form a police cordon, through which the Arab 
slave-traders will find it difficult to pass. 

Stanley urges stringent measures, and commends the 
German government for what it has done on the east 
coast of Africa. ^^No caravan is permitted to leave 
without search ; gunpowder and arms are confiscated ; 
slave-traders are tried and hanged after conviction (the 
chief judge on the German coast lately sentenced sev- 
enteen Arabs to be hanged at Linde). The trading- 
depots of the African Lakes' Company are pre-eminently 
successful in subserving the anti-slavery cause by sup- 
pressing the odious trade in slaves." 

Still the traffic goes on in all its horrors in many 
portions of Africa ; in the interior, and in some of the 
northen parts as well. '' The importation of negroes 
from the Nigritien basin and South-western Soudan into 
the public slave markets of Morocco," says Stanley, 
*^will continue until for very shame it will irritate 
Europe into taking more decided steps in the name of 
humanity to force the ever-maandering authorities to 
decre the abolition of the slave-trade." 

Commerce and civilization must go hand in hand. 
Eailways must be built, telegraphic lines established, 
and the nations of the world must unite to protect the 
African from the greed and the cruelty of the slave- 
market. 

Livingstone left Ujiji, July 12, improved in health, to 
start northward into the Manyuema country to ascertain, 
if possible, whether the Lualaba Eiver is the western 



DAVID LIVINGSTONE. 408 

branch of the Nile or the eastern of the Congo. He did 
not live to ascertain that it is, indeed, the Congo. 

He reached the banks of the river at Kyangwe, March 29, 
1871, more than a year after he started. He read the Bible 
through four times while in the Manyuema country, the 
land of cannibals. On his journey back to Ujiji, begun 
July 20^ 1871, he several times narrowly escaped death, 
as many Arabs were with him, and they were so hated by 
the natives. Great trees were chopped down Just as he 
passed, and sometimes the spears just missed him ; one 
grazed his neck, flung by a man ten yards off. During 
the last of the journey, '' I felt as if dying on my feet,^' 
he wrote. He reached Ujiji, Oct, 23, 1871, a living 
skeleton. To his amazement and despair, a leading 
Arab, professing to believe Livingstone dead, had sold 
all his remaining goods. He had not a single yard of 
cloth left out of his three thousand, nor a string of beads 
out of seven hundred pounds. Sick in body and really 
sick at heart, he had now to wait to see what the 
future might have in store. 

'Five days later, Oct. 28, Susi came running toward 
his master exclaiming excitedly, '^ An Englishman ! I 
see him ! " Livingstone looked out and beheld a cara- 
van with the American flag at the head. 

^' Bales of goods, baths of tin, huge kettles, cooking- 
pots, tents, etc.j made me think,'' he says, " this must 
be a luxurious traveller, and not at his wits [ end like me." 

The leader of the caravan, who had come just at the 
opportune moment, was Henry M. Stanley, sent thither 
at an expense of over four thousand pounds by James 
Gordon Bennett of the I^ew York Herald, " to find Liv- 
ingstone, dead or alive.'' 

For eleven long months the young journalist had 



404 DAVID LIVINGSTONE, 

faced disease and hostile tribes in the heart of an un- 
known country to find the great teacher, from whom 
nothing had been heard for three years. Once he was 
well-nigh discouraged; but he wrote in his journal: ^^No 
living man shall stop me — only death can prevent me. 
But death — not even this ; I shall not die — I will not 
die — I can not die ! Something tells me I shall find 
him and — write it larger — find him, find him. Even 
the words are inspiring." 

At last he had found him, and the two men stood face 
to face. It was a supreme moment. They clasped 
hands warmly. " I thank God, Doctor, I have been per- 
mitted to see you,'^ said Stanley with a full heart. 

'' I feel grateful that I am here to welcome you," was 
the response of the weary, white-haired man. 

For four happy months they talked and explored to- 
gether, and each grew fond of the other. Stanley says, 
^^ I had gone over battle-fields, witnessed revolutions, civil 
wars, rebellions, emeutes, and massacres, . . . but never 
had I been called to record anything that moved me so 
much as this man's woes and sufferings, his privations and 
disappointments. . . . Livingstone was a character that 
I venerated, that called forth all my enthusiasm, that 
evoked nothing but sincerest admiration." . . . Again 
Stanley says : " Livingstone's gentleness never forsakes 
him ; his hopefulness never deserts him. No harassing 
anxieties, distraction of mind, long separation from 
home and kindred, can make him complain. He thinks 
' all will come out right at last ; ' he has such faith in the 
goodness of Providence. . . . 

'^ From being hated and thwarted in every possible 
way by the Arabs and half-castes upon his arrival in 
Ujiji [on account of his opposition to the slave-trade] 



DAVID LIVINGSTONE. 405 

he has, through uniform kindness and mild, pleasant 
temper, won all hearts. I observed that universal re- 
spect was paid to him. Even the Mohammedans never 
passed his house without calling to pay their compli- 
ments, and to say ^ The blessing of God rest on you.' '^ 

Stanley begged Livingstone to go back with him, and 
he would " carry him every foot of the way to the coast." 

" No,'' replied the latter ; '- 1 should like to see my 
family very much indeed. My children's letters affect 
me intensely ; but I must not go home, I must finish my 
task." 

They went together on the homeward journey as far 
as Unyanyembi, — Stanley bearing homeward Living- 
stone's journals in waterproof canvas, sealed with five 
seals, — and then the farewells were said. 

" Good-by, Doctor, dear friend ! " 

'' Good-by." 

^' Now, my men, home ! Lift the flag. March ! " 

Through the distance Stanley waved his handkerchief 
and Livingstone raised his cap. He never looked upon 
a white man's face again. Six months afterwards 
Stanley said, " My eyes feel somewhat dimmed at the 
recollection of the parting." 

Livingstone wrote his daughter Agnes concerning 
Stanley : " He laid all he had at my service, divided 
his clothes into two heaps, and pressed one heap upon 
me ; then his medicine-chest ; then his goods and every- 
thing he had, and, to coax my appetite, often cooked 
dainty dishes with his own hands. . . . 

^^He came with the true American characteristic — 
generosity. The tears often started into my eyes on 
every fresh proof of kindness." 

Stanley had brought him letters and gifts from home. 



406 JDAVID LIVINGSTONE, 

Nothing pleased Livingstone more than four woollen 
shirts from Agnes — now Mrs. Bruce — and a letter 
from her which said, '^ Much as I wish you to come 
home, I had rather that you finished your work to your 
own satisfaction than return merely to gratify me." 

Livingstone says in his journal: ^*Eightly and 
nobly said, my darling Nannie ; vanity whispers pretty 
loudly, ' She is a chip of the old block/ My blessing on 
her and all the rest.'' 

Livingstone waited at Unyanyembe till Stanley should 
send back suitable porters from the coast, fifty-seven 
men and boys, and then the heroic man began again 
his toilsome explorations through swamps and fever- 
laden districts. It was gratifying that his government 
had voted him one thousand pounds, as he had received 
no salary for the previous six years. 

Five days after Stanley's departure, on Livingstone's 
birthday, March 19, 1872, he writes in his journal : 
" Accept me, and grant, gracious Father, that ere this 
year is gone I may finish my task." 

He wished to find the true sources of the Nile, and 
then he would go home. Death came before he had 
settled the problem. 

On Aug. 25, 1872, Livingstone started on his last 
journey westward. He had written to his old college 
friend, James Young: ^^I rejoice to think it is now 
your portion, after working nobly, to play. May you 
have along spell of it! I am differently situated. I 
shall never be able to play. . . . During a large part ol 
this journey I had a strong presentiment that I should 
never live to finish it. . . . This presentiment did not 
interfere with the performance of any duty; it only 
made me think a great deal more of the future state of 
beino^." 



DAVID LIVINGSTONE. 407 

On Oct. 14 they reached Lake Tanganyika, and then 
struggled on toward the eastern shore of Lake Bang- 
weolo. It was tlie rainy season, and they forded river 
after river, nearly to their necks in water. 

Jan. 24, 1873, he writes in his journal : " Went one 
hour and three-quarters' journey to a large stream, 
through drizzling rain, at least three hundred yards of 
deep water, among sedges and sponges of one hundred 
yards. One part was neck-deep for fifty yards, and the 
water cold. We plunged in elephants' foot-prints one 
hour and a half, then came on one hour to a small riv- 
ulet ten feet broad, but waist-deep ; bridge covered and 
broken down. 

^^ Carrying me across one of the broad, deep, sedgy 
rivers is really a very difficult task. One we crossed 
was at least two thousand feet broad, or more than three 
hundred yards. The first part, the main stream, came 
up to Susi's mouth, and wetted my seat and legs. One 
held up my pistol behind, then one after another took a 
turn ; and when he sank into an elephant's deep foot- 
print, he required two to lift him, so as to gain a footing 
on a level, which was over waist-deep. Others went on 
and bent down the grass to insure some footing on the 
side of the elephant's path." 

No wonder he wrote, '^ This trip has made my hair 
all gray." It was evident that his health was failing. 
He writes, March 19 : " Thanks to the Almighty Pre- 
server of men for sparing me thus far on the journey of 
life ! Can I hope for ultimate success ? So many obsta- 
cles have arisen." 

'' March 24. The loads are all soaked, and with the 
cold it is bitterly uncomfortable." 

" March 25. Nothing earthly will make me give up 



408 DAVID LIVINGSTONE. 

my work in despair. I encourage myself in the Lord 
my God, and go forward." 

" April 10. I am pale, bloodless, and weak. . . . Oh, 
how I long to be permitted by the Over Power to finish 
my work ! '' 

"April 19. I am excessively weak, and but for the 
donkey could not move a hundred yards. It is not all 
pleasure, this exploration. ... I can scarcely hold a 
pencil, and my stick is a burden." 

" April 21. Tried to ride, but was forced to lie down, 
and they carried me back to vil [village] exhausted." 

His faithful followers, seeing that he was daily fail- 
ing, had made a litter, covered it with grass, laid a 
blanket upon it, and carried Livingstone upon their 
shoulders. 

There were no entries now in his journals except the 
date. Then the last words were written by the dying 
man on the eleventh anniversary of his wife's death, 
April 27, 1873: "Knocked up quite, and remain — 
recover — Sent to buy milch goats. We are on the 
banks of the Molilamo." 

As best they could, they bore him forward to the 
village of the chief Chitambo, where they built him 
a hut. 

On April 30 Livingstone asked Susi to bring him his 
watch, that he, the servant, might hold it, while the key 
was slowly turned by the enfeebled hands. At 11 p. m. 
Susi went to his master's bedside. The latter said, 
in Suaheli language, " Siku-ngapi kwenda Luapula ? " 
(How many days is it to the Luapula ?) 

Upon being told that it was about three days, he half 
sighed, half said, " Oh, dear, dear ! " 

After midnight Susi boiled some water for him. 



DAVID LIVINGSTONE. 409 

and held the candle near him while he selected some 
calomel. Then Livingstone said in a low voice, ^^All 
right ; you can go now." 

At four o'clock, before light, Susi again entered, being 
called by the boy who slept just inside the hut. Living- 
stone was kneeling beside his bed, his head buried in 
his hands upon the pillow. The 29,000 miles of travel 
in Africa were ended ; he was dead, and the body almost 
cold. Susi and Chuma with Jacob Wainwright, who 
could write, decided that the body must be carried to 
Zanzibar, and from thence to England. Then they pro- 
ceeded to embalm it the best they knew how. Eemov- 
ing the heart, lungs, etc., these were placed in a tin box 
and reverently buried at Ilala, where he died. Then 
the body was exposed to the sun for fourteen days, 
wrapped in calico, and enclosed in the bark of the 
Myonga tree, with tarred sail-cloth sewed over the 
cylindrical package. 

Then the homeward journey began, the precious bur- 
den being carried on their shoulders. Half of the men 
became ill, and some of the tribes were hostile. When 
they reached Unyanyembe, Lieutenant Cameron wished 
to have the body buried there, rather than make the 
perilous journey to the coast, but the men would not 
for a moment consent. 

At one village opposition was shown to a dead body 
passing through it, so a bale of sticks was prepared like 
a body, and the people were given to understand that 
they would bury the corpse. Some of them went back 
with the pretended body, while the real one was re- 
wrapped like a bale of goods, and carried forward with- 
out suspicion. 

Through nine long months they made tlie journey of 



410 DAVID LIVINGSTONE. 

more than a thousand miles to the coast, bearing their 
beloved dead. ^^ The story stands alone in history/^ says 
Thomas Hughes. 

Through the generosity of Livingstone's friend, James 
Young, Susi and Chuma, two out of seven long-tried and 
faithful servants, with Jacob Wainwright, who had been 
sent by Stanley from Zanzibar, were brought to England 
on the steamer, and assisted at the burial of their great 
leader. 

On Saturday, April 18, 1874, Livingstone was buried 
near the centre of the nave in Westminster Abbey. The 
grand old abbey was crowded in every part. Among 
the pall-bearers were Stanley and Jacob Wainwright. 

A black slab now marks the resting-place of him 
whom Mr. Johnston well calls " The greatest and best 
man who ever explored Africa.'^ On the slab are these 
words : — 

** Brought by faithful hands 

over land and sea, 

here rests 

David Livingstone, 

missionary, traveller, philanthropist, 
born March 19, 1813, 
at Blantyre, Lanarkshire. 
Died May 4 [probably May 1], 1873. 
At Chitambo's village, llala. 
For thirty years his life was spent in an unwearied 
effort to evangelize the native races, to explore the 
undiscovered secrets, and abolish the desolating slave- 
trade of Central Africa, where, with his last words, 
he wrote : — 

* All I can say in my solitude is, may Heaven's rich 
blessing come down on every one — American, English, 
Turk — who will help to heal this open sore of the 
world.' '' 



DAVID LIVINGSTONE. 411 

These words concerning slavery were the last penned 
in a letter which the missionary explorer wrote to the 
JVew York Herald, after Stanley left him. The nations 
are now trying to do that to which Livingstone's life 
and death were consecrated. 



MATTHEW CALBRAITH PERRY. 



IT is not often that five naval officers are found in one 
family, and two of these so famous as Matthew Cal- 
braith Peny, who opened Japan to the world, and Oliver 
Hazard Perry, the hero of Lake Erie, in the war of 1812. 

Matthew, the fourth child in the family of a sturdy 
sea-captain, Christopher Raymond Perry, was born at 
Newport, E. I., April 10, 1794. He was an active, 
earnest boy, showing in early life the energy and strength 
of character which distinguished him in his manhood. 
Under the training of a self-reliant and noble mother, 
Matthew learned to be honest, devoted to country, and 
persevering in every duty. Though gentle in her man- 
ners, she had great force of character, teaching her chil- 
dren obedience as one of the first virtues, and exhibiting 
the same fearlessness and fortitude before them which 
they themselves showed in after life. 

Matthew was eager to enter the navy when a lad of 
twelve, but his youth prevented. On Jan. 18, 1809, 
he became a midshipman, and soon went aboard the 
schooner Eevenge, commanded by his brother Oliver. 
She was attached to the squadron under Commodore 
John Eodgers, which guarded our coasts from the 
Chesapeake to Passamaquoddy Bay, to prevent Ameri- 
can sailors from being pressed into British service by^ 
British ships. 412 






MATTHEW CALEB AITH PERRY. 413 

On Oct. 12, 1810, the lad was transferred to the 
frigate President, the flag-ship of Commodore Eodgers. 
The Revenge was wrecked off Watch Hill, R.I., three 
months later. 

On the President, June 22, young Perry, then seven- 
teen, received his first wound in the first naval battle of 
the war of 1812. By the explosion of a gun the leg of 
Commodore Eodgers was broken, several sailors were 
killed, and others wounded; among the latter was young 
Perry. 

After capturing seven British merchant vessels. Com- 
modore Eodgers was obliged to return, his crew being 
unfitted for duty by scurvy. On another trip Eodgers 
captured twelve British vessels, Avith two hundred and 
seventy-one prisoners. Young Perry was promoted to 
an acting lieutenantcy when he was eighteen, and was 
soon transferred to the ship United States, under Com- 
modore Decatur. 

On Christmas eve, 1814, the youth of twenty was 
married to Miss Jane Slidell, then only seventeen years 
of age, the daugliter of a rich New York merchant. 
Matthew probably seemed much older than he really 
was, from the experience he had already enjoyed in 
travel and naval warfare. Prom this happy union came 
a family of four sons and six daughters. 

Mr. Slidell, the father-in-law of Perry, offered the latter 
tlie command of his merchant-vessel bound for Holland. 
Perry obtained a furlough, accepted the position, and re- 
mained in the commercial marine for nearly three years, 
when he re-entered the navy. 

In 1819, Perry, in the ship Cyane, visited the Dark 
Continent to convoy the first company of black colonists 
to Africa. The ship captured some slavers, and helped 



414 MATTHEW CALBRAITII PERRY. 

the negroes in settling and house-building. Most of 
the colonists and crew suffered from the African fever, 
and the colony proved a failure. Another remedy had 
to be found for the cure of slavery in America nearly 
a half-century later. 

After another voyage to Africa, during which Perry 
gave especial study to that dread disease scurvy, finding 
that it resulted largely from salt diet, lack of vegeta- 
bles, and want of ventilation and cleanliness, he gave 
some time in his war-ship, the Shark, in helping to rid 
the West Indian Archipelago of pirate crafts. He 
studied Spanish the more effectually to do his work, 
and became well versed in the standard literature in that 
language. 

After a rest of some months with his family in New 
York, Perry joined the JSTorth Carolina, one of our first 
line-of-battle ships, and sailed in her to Malaga, May 19, 
1825. She with some other ships was commissioned 
to protect American commerce on the Mediterranean. 

Perry's next sea voyage was to Eussia, in the Concord. 
While at Cronstadt the Tsar Nicholas came on board, 
and inspected her with apparent pleasure. Perry and a 
few other officers were received at the imperial palace. 
The Tsar asked many questions of the young American 
officer, who answered with dignity and courtesy. 

Perry visited Copenhagen, Cowes in the Isle of Wight, 
Malta, and Alexandria. On the trip to Alexandria he 
had Lady Pranklin on board. She '^ was full of her 
husband,'' says the chaplain ; ^^ and, of course, at each 
meal, the whole company had to hear theories and suc- 
cesses and memories repeated on the one theme." 

At Alexandria the officers were invited to dine with 
Mehemet, the Viceroy of Egypt, who presented the 
party with thirteen swords. 



MATTHEW CALBRAITH PERRY. 415 

Later Perry was sent to Italy in command of the 
ship Brandy wine, and on his return, at his own request, 
was given the command of the recruiting station at New 
York. 

Here, for ten years, he enjoyed his family, and de- 
voted himself to the welfare of the navy. He organized 
the Brooklyn Naval Lyceum, '^ to promote the diffusion 
of useful knowledge, to foster a spirit of harmony and a 
community of interests in- the service, and to cement the 
links which unite us as professional brethren." 

A library was begun, pictures were given by wealthy 
patrons, and a bi-monthly magazine was started. The 
Lyceum is still doing its valuable work. Perry was 'al- 
ways an advocate of reading and general culture for his 
men. On ship-board he organized classes. He urged the 
sailors to give up liquor, and was instrumental iu ob- 
taining the prohibition of the spirit ration to all under 
twenty-one, which rule was passed Aug. 29, 1842. He 
also helped to abolish flogging with ^Hhe cat-of-nine 
tails," on the bare back. 

Perry was offered the command of the United States 
Exploring Expedition to the Antarctic continent ; but as 
he declined, it was given to Lieutenant Charles "Wilkes, 
whose subsequent publications are full of interest. 

Perry took the deepest interest in the use of steam 
for the navy, and applied for the command of the Ful- 
ton, a floating battery for the defence of New York har- 
bor, the first American steamer of war. He took her 
to Washington, and President Jackson and his cabinet 
enjoyed an inspection of her. 

Perry was the first to urge a training-school for naval 
engineers provided by the government. This was real- 
ized later at Annapolis. He made a special study of 



416 MATTHEW CALBRAITH PERRY, 

naval ordnance, and proposed the ram, " using a steamer 
as a striking body.'^ 

Perry with others made a careful study of the water 
approaches to New York. He went to Europe to study 
lighthouses, visited founderies and ship-yards, and met 
distinguished scientists and rulers. He was invited by 
King Louis Philippe to an informal supper, where he 
met the royal family, the Queen pouring the tea. 

On his return to New York, Perry purchased one hun- 
dred and twenty acres near Tarrytown, on the Hudson, 
and built a stone cottage which he called ^' The Moor- 
ings.'^ He rose early to care for his land, studied and 
wrote evenings, and became the close friend of Wash- 
ington Irving, his neighbor. 

At the request of the government he conducted many 
experiments with projectiles and great guns. 

After another voyage to Africa, to help suppress 
piracy and the slave-trade, he took an active and success- 
ful part in the Mexican War, in the surrender of Vera 
Cruz, Tabasco, and other cities. 

All this varied experience was leading to the one 
crowning act of his life — the opening of Japan to the 
world. 

For centuries this empire of Japan had been closed to 
the ships and citizens of every land. The Dutch were 
allowed a very few limited privileges. For more than 
three hundred years Portuguese, English, French, 
Russians, and Americans had tried in vain to hold com- 
mercial relations with her, to travel among her people, 
and to buy the delicate workmanship of her hands. 
Commodore Perry believed that with kindness and tact, 
backed by a force sufficient to impress the natives, 
entrance to Japan might be effected. 



MATTHEW CALBEAITH PERRY, 417 

He read all the available literature on the subject as 
soon as he knew that he was to take the lead of the 
expedition. He notified the authorities at Washington 
of his intention to take with him, for the Japanese, 
specimens of our mechanical products, arms, and ma- 
chinery, and asked manufacturers for samples of every 
description. 

The Norris Brothers of Philadelphia furnished a 
little locomotive and rails to be laid down in Japan. 

A letter to the Emperor of Japan from the President 
of the United States, Millard Fillmore, written by the 
Hon. Edward Everett, the Secretary of State, was hand- 
somely engrossed and enclosed in a box which cost a 
thousand dollars. 

After various delays and obstacles, Commodore Perry 
started in the ship Mississippi from Norfolk, Va., Nov. 
24, 1852, several other vessels of the squadron soon 
following him. '' Until the great Civil War, only two 
fleets — that is, collections of war vessels numbering at 
least twelve — had assembled under the American flag. 
These were in the waters of Mexico and Japan. Both 
were commanded by Matthew C. Perry.'^ Thus writes 
the Eev. William Elliot Grifiis in his life of Perry. 

On the passage out they stopped at Madeira, where 
the Commodore made some official calls in the fashion- 
able conveyance of Eunchal, a sledge with a gayly deco- 
rc.^ed carriage body, drawn by a yoke of oxen. The ladies 
of the town often rode on horseback, a groom keeping 
pace with the horse. At the island of St. Helena the 
officers visited the lonely spot where Napoleon found a 
home and a grave in 1821. 

At Cape Town, in the south of Africa, Perry saw 
something of the Hottentots, Avho lived in movable huts 



418 MATTHEW OALBRAITR PERRY. 

made of boughs, which they conveyed from place to 
place on the backs of oxen. 

At Mauritius the officers visited the supposed tomb 
of Paul and Virginia, immortalized by the pen of Ber- 
nardin St. Pierre, who was then an officer of the garrison 
of Mauritius. The French ship, St. Gevan, was wrecked 
on the north-east coast of the island on the night of Aug. 
18, 1744. On board the ship were two young ftidies 
Mallet and Caillon, returning as passengers from France, 
whither they had been sent to be educated. Monsieur 
Longchamps de Montendre (Paul) and Madamoiselle 
Caillon (Virginia) were last seen on the top-gallant 
forecastle of the wrecked vessel. Montendre had 
lowered himself down from the ship^s side to throw 
himself into the sea, earnestly begging the girl to at- 
tempt to save herself with him, but on her refusal, he 
returned and would not again leave her. Mademoiselle 
Mallet was on the quarter-deck with Monsieur de Pera- 
mont, who never left her for a moment. Nearly all on 
board perished. 

A short stay was made at Ceylon by the squadron. 
^"Of the productions of the island,'^ says the narra- 
tive of the Perry expedition, compiled by Dr. Francis L. 
Hawks, "the cocoanut is probably the most valuable to 
the natives. Everywhere in Ceylon, as far as the eye 
can reach, extensive plantations of this tree are to. be 
seen, and the numerous roads throughout the island are 
bordered with it. The weary and heated traveller finds 
not only protection from the sun in its shade, but refresh- 
ment from the milk of the fruit, which is both agreeable 
to the taste and wholesome. 

" The cocoanut palm has a great variety of uses. 
The green fruit, with its delicate albuminous meat and 



i 



> MATTHEW CALBRAITH PERRY. 419 

its refreshing milk, is a favorite article of food. When 
ripe, the kernel of the nut is dried, forming what the 
natives term copperal, and an oil of great value is ex- 
pressed from it, while the residuum forms an excellent 
oil cake for the fattening of animals. Even the husk 
of the nut is useful ; its fibres are wrought into the coir 
rope, of which large quantities are annually exported, 
and the shells are manufactured into various domestic 
utensils. From the sap of the tree a drink is obtained 
which is called ' toddy,' and made into arrack by distil- 
lation. The leaves afford a good material for the 
thatching of the native huts, and are, moreover, given 
as food to elephants." 

The talipot is one of the wonders of the island. A 
single leaf of this tree will shade several persons. When 
the leaf is softened by boiling, the natives use it as a 
substitute for paper, and write upon it. The cinnamon- 
tree abounds with its beautiful white blossoms and red- 
tipped leaves. 

After touching at Singapore, the squadron reached 
Hong Kong, April 6. Perry spent a few days at Macao, 
in which is the cave of Camoens, where the celebrated 
Portuguese poet is supposed to have written a portion of 
his " Lusiad.'^ He first visited Macao when banished 
from Portugal on account of his persistent courtship of a 
lady of rank, whose parents were opposed to a poor 
genius. He returned to Portugal, and died in a hospital 
in poverty. Above the cave at Macao is a marble monu- 
ment with a bronze bust of the poet. 

Shanghai was visited; and then the squadron, the Com- 
modore having transferred his home from the Mississippi 
to the Susquehanna, sailed from Napa, the principal 
port of the Great Liu Kiu Island, one of a group said to 
number thirty-six islands, a dependency of Japan. 



420 MATTHEW CALEB AITH PERRY. 

Bayard Taylor had joined the squadron at Shanghai, 
and thereafter kept most interesting journals of the 
expedition. 

Two hours after the ships came to anchor two Jap- 
anese officials appeared on board, presenting with pro- 
found salutations a folded red card of Japanese paper 
a yard long. One man wore a loose salmon-colored robe 
of grass cloth, while the other wore blue. Both had on 
oblong caps of bright yellow. 

The Commodore declined to see these men, determined 
to receive only the principal dignitaries. The next day 
these officials came with presents, — a bullock, several 
pigs, fowls, and eggs ; but these were declined till a 
treaty should be made, or some formal recognition taken 
of the American representatives. 

A few days later the regent of Liu Kiu, a venerable 
old man, arrived, and was received with much ceremony 
by the Commodore, who repaid the visit at the royal 
palace, June 6, evidently much against the will of the 
authorities. 

The Commodore was borne in a sedan chair by eight 
Chinese coolies, his marines, under arms, in line on either 
side, with two field-pieces and the artillerymen in front. 

The natives knelt as the procession passed. It w^as 
evident that spies were on every side. The band played 
^^Hail Columbia" as they reached the palace gate. 

The Commodore and his officers were received in the 
hall of audience, where smoking-boxes were distributed 
and twists of gingerbread. The queen dowager, and boy 
prince for whom the regent governed, did not make 
their appearance. 

After this formal reception the party was received 
at the home of the regent, where a bountiful repast was 



MATTHEW CALBEAITH PERRY, 421 

served. Many of the dishes were unfamiliar to Americans. 
Of those which they knew, " there were sliced boiled 
eggs, which had been dyed crimson, fish made into rolls 
and boiled in fat, pieces of cold baked fish, slices of hog's 
liver, sugar candy, cucumbers, mustard, salted radish 
tops, and fragments of lean pork fried. Cups of tea 
were first handed round ; these were followed by very 
small cups of sake [an intoxicating drink made from 
rice], which had the taste of French liqueur. Small 
bamboo sticks, sharpened at one end, and which some 
of the guests mistook for toothpicks, were furnished, to 
be used as forks in taking balls of meat and dough from 
the soup, which made the first course. Soup consti- 
tuted also the next seven courses of the twelve whereof 
the repast consisted. The other four were gingerbread, 
salad made of bean sprouts and young onion tops, a 
basket of what appeared to be some dark-red fruit, but 
proved to be artificial balls composed of a thin dough 
rind covering a sugary pulp, and a delicious mixture 
compounded of beaten eggs and a slender white root with 
an aromatic taste.'' 

As long as the squadron remained at Liu Kiu all 
military and naval drills were regularly performed daily. 
Of the seventeen boats manned and equipped, five carried 
twelve and twenty-four pounders. These created great 
interest among the people of Liu Kiu. 

The inhabitants were found to be very neat, living in 
plain, unpainted houses, whose floors were covered with 
mats which were carefully preserved from dirt, the 
people stepping on them with bare feet or with stockings 
only. When they entered the house, they slipped off 
their loose straw sandals, and left them at the door. 

The crown of the head, to the extent of two or three 



422 MATTHEW CALBRAITH PERRY. 

inches, was shaved, and into the vacant space the hair 
was drawn and plaited, fastened by two large hair-pins. 
The lower class usually wore brass or pewter pins, 
v\^hile the literati, or dignitaries, used gold or silver. 

On June 9, Bonin Islands, lying in the Japanese Sea, 
were visited ; and a month later, on July 7, the fleet 
came to anchor at Uraga, in the Bay of Yedo. Great 
was the astonishment of the Japanese. A number of 
Japanese guard-boats were sent out to the ships, but 
the Commodore would not allow the men to come on 
board. They made several attempts to climb into the 
American vessels, but were checked by the sight of 
pistols and pikes. 

Finally an official appeared with an order for the ships 
to depart instantly. He was told that the Commodore 
bore a message from the President of the United States 
to the Emperor, and would confer with no one except 
the highest in rank in Uraga. 

During that first night, when a foreign squadron 
anchored in the Bay of Yedo, beacon fires glimmered on 
the hills, and the great bell tolled its danger signal. 
Companies of Japanese soldiers, in their scarlet uni- 
forms, passed from garrison to garrison. 

Perry was finally informed that he must go to some 
other port to deliver his message to the Emperor ; but 
this he declined to do, saying that if the Japanese 
government did not see fit to appoint a proper person 
to receive such a valuable letter, the Commodore, with a 
sufficient force, would be obliged to deliver it in person, 
let the consequences be what they might. 

Boats with white flags, to show their peaceful inten- 
tion, were sent out from the American ships to explore 
the bay and harbor of Uraga; and when the Japanes3 



MATTHEW CALBRAITH PERRY, 423 

demurred, saying that this was against their laws, they 
were told that the American haws commanded these 
explorations, and American subjects must obey. 

Sunday^ July 10, was carefully observed by religious 
services, and no communication was held with the 
Japanese on that day. 

On July 13j the governor of the Province arrived, 
bearing a letter of credence from the Emperor, wrapped 
in velvet, and enclosed in a box of sandal-wood. It was 
treated with such reverence by the governor that no one 
was allowed to touch it. The letter was addressed to 
his highness, Toda, Prince of Idzu: ^^I seiid you to 
Uraga to receive the letter of the President of the 
United States to me, which letter has recently been 
brought to Uraga by the Admiral, upon receiving which 
you will proceed to Yedo, and bring the same to me." 
The Emperor's seal was at the bottom. 

A building was immediately constructed, trimmed 
with flags and painted screens, wherein the Commodore 
was to meet Toda, Prince of Idzu, and deliver the Presi- 
dent's letter in the thousand-dollar gold case. 

When the time arrived the Commodore, surrounded 
by about three hundred of his men, all in uniform, the 
guns from his ships firing every now and then, repaired 
to the place of meeting. Two stalwart seamen bore the 
flag at the head of the procession, and two boys pre- 
ceded the Commodore, carrying the golden box in a 
covering of scarlet cloth. The President's letter, and 
the credentials of Perry, were written on vellum, and 
not folded, but bound in blue silk velvet. Each seal, 
attached by cords of gold and silk, was encased in 
a circular box of pure gold. Each document was in a 
rosewood box, with locks, hinges, and mountings of 



424 MATTHEW CALBRAITH PERRY. 

gold. Two tall negroes, armed, acted as Perry's body- 
guard. 

The ships had meantime been cleared for action in 
case there should be hostile demonstrations on shore 
towards the Americans. 

The Japanese officials were gorgeously attired in silks 
and gold lace. A hundred Japanese boats lined the 
shore, while thousands of the people flocked to witness 
so strange a spectacle. 

The letter to the Emperor from the President urged 
the abrogation of the ancient Japanese laws which f or- 
bade^foreign trade, desired to make a treaty useful alike 
to both nations, whereby Japanese ports should be 
opened, and begged the acceptance, by the Emperor, of 
some gifts. The friendly letter of Millard Pillmore, to 
his " Great and Good Eriend," said, '^ May the Almighty 
have your imperial majesty in His great and holy keep- 
ing!" 

Commodore Perry, "Commander-in-chief of all the 
naval forces of the United States of America, stationed 
in the East Indies, China and Japan Seas,'' sent as a 
special ambassador by the President, also wrote a full 
letter to the Emperor. 

After the giving of the letters, the Commodore ex- 
plained that he would return to Japan the following 
spring, to receive the answer of the Emperor to the 
President. 

Perry sailed back to Liu Kiu and China, where he 
studied the people, and obtained much valuable infor- 
mation. All the land in Liu Kiu was held by the 
government, and rented to large tenants, who in turn 
sub-let it to the direct cultivators of the soil. Eice was 
found to be the chief product, though wheat, tobacco, 



MATTHEW CALBRAITII PERRY. 425 

peanutSj onionSj and radishes — some three feet long and 
twelve inches round, were seen in abundance. The 
flowers were the camellia, which grows wild and bears 
a pink blossom, the dahlia, morning-glory, marsh-mallow, 
etc. The bamboo was large, and of great value to the 
people. 

"Great reverence is paid to the dead in Liu Kiu," 
says the Perry narrative, " where they are put in coffins 
in a sitting posture, and being followed by the friends 
and relations, and a procession of women in long white 
veils which cover their heads and faces, are interred in 
well-built stone vaults, or tombs constructed in the sides 
of the hills. After the body has been interred for a 
period of seven years, and all the flesh is decayed, the 
bones are removed and deposited in stone vases, which 
are placed upon shelves within the vaults. The poor 
people place the remains of their dead in earthen jars, 
and deposit them in the crevices of the rocks, where 
they are often to be seen, broken and disarranged. 
Periodical visits are paid by the surviving friends and 
relations to the burial-places, where they deposit offer- 
ings upon the tombs. On the first interment of the 
rich dead, roast pig and other articles of food are offered, 
and after being allowed to remain for a short time, are 
distributed among the poor.'' 

The Commodore and his squadron returned to the 
Bay of Yedo about the middle of February, 1854, The 
Japanese Emperor had died during Perry's absence, and 
the treaty, if concluded at all, would be made with his 
successor. 

A treaty-house was built near Yokohama; and here the 
conferences took place. Perry coming thither with five 
hundred men in twenty-seven boats. Twenty-one guns 



426 MATTHEW GALBRAITH PERRY. 

were fired in honor of the Emperor, and seventeen in 
honor of his high commissioner, Hayashi Daigaku-no- 
Kami. 

The presents to the Emperor of Japan, and to his 
officials, filling several large boats, were delivered March 
13. These were swords, muskets, telegraph instruments, 
three life-boats, seven volumes of Audubon's ^^ Birds 
and Quadrupeds of America,^' potatoes, stoves, telescope, 
agricultural implements, etc. The mile of telegraph, 
when in working order, created intense interest. The 
tiny locomotive was at once secured for a ride by a man- 
darin, on its roof. " It was a spectacle, not a little 
ludicrous,'^ says Perry, " to behold a dignified mandarin 
whirling around the circular road at the rate of twenty 
miles an hour, with his loose robes flying in the wind.'' 

Eleven days later, March 24, a large number of gifts 
were received for the government of the United Sta-tes 
from the Emperor ; gold lacquered writing-tables, desks, 
boxes, silks, pongees, crape, matting, porcelain, bamboo 
stands, two hundred bundles of rice, each measuring five 
Japanese pecks, and three hundred chickens. 

Perry gave a feast to the Japanese officials. At the 
close of the dinner, the guests gathered in long folds of 
paper all they could reach from the tables, and stored 
it away in their pockets, or in the capacious sleeves of 
their robes. This was the fashion of the country, and 
when they entertained the Americans, the Japanese 
urged them to take to the ships all they could carry 
from the feasts. 

After many days spent in conference, a treaty with 
America by which two ports were opened, Hakodate in 
Yesso, and Shimoda in Idzu, was finally concluded, 
Friday, March 31, 1854, whereupon Perry presented 



MATTHEW GALBRAITH PERRY. 427 

Prince Hagashi with an American flag, as the highest 
expression of national courtesy and friendship which he 
could offer. On a portion of the ground at Yokohama 
where the treaty was made, the first Protestant Church in 
Japan was organized by the Eev. Mr. Ballagh. The first 
five thousand dollars towards its erection were sent by 
Christian converts of the Hawaiian Islands. 

After remaining for some days in the Bay of Yedo, 
where the camellias on the shore grow to forty feet in 
height, with magnificent red and white blossoms, and 
being entertained in the homes of some of the officials, 
where the rooms were covered with soft mats, and the 
windows made of oiled paper, the Commodore sailed for 
Shimoda on the island of Niphon. He found the houses 
as usual, divided into several compartments by means 
of sliding panels, and destitute of tables, chairs, sofas, 
and what to us are essentials for comfort. 

" Shimoda,'' says William Elliot Griffis, in his very 
interesting " Mikado's Empire," ^' before it fairly began 
to be of much service, was visited by a terrific earthquake 
and tidal wave, that hurled a Eussian frigate to destruc- 
tion, overwhelmed the town, sweeping back by its reces- 
sion into the boiling ocean scores of houses and about 
one hundred human beings. The effluent wave ploughed 
the harbor with such force that all the mud was scoured 
from the rocky bed. The anchors of ships could obtain 
no grip on the bare, slippery rock bottom ; and Shimoda, 
being useless as a harbor, was abandoned. The ruin of 
. Shimoda was the rise of Yokohama." 

By a new treaty five years later, 1859, Kanagawa, 
three miles across the bay from Yokohama, and Nagas- 
aki were made open ports. 

Eliza Euhamah Scidmore, in her " Jinrikisha Days in 



428 MATTHEW CALBRAITH PERRY. 

Japari/^ thus describes a Japanese house : " The area of 
every room is some multiple of three feet, because 
the soft tatami, or floor-mats, measure six feet in length 
by three in width. These are woven of common straw 
and rushes, faced with a closely wrought mat of rice- 
straw. It is to save these tatami and the polished floors 
that the shoes are left outside the house. 

"The thick screens, ornamented with sketches or 
poems, that separate one room from another, are the 
fusuma ; the screens shutting off the veranda, pretty lat- 
tice frames covered with rice-paper that admit a pecul- 
iarly soft light to the rooms, are the shoji, and in their 
management is involved an elaborate etiquette. . . . 

" The Japanese bed is the floor, with a wooden box 
under the neck for a pillow and a futon for a covering. 
To the foreigner the Japanese landlord allows five or 
six futons, or cotton-wadded comforters, and they make 
a tolerable mattress, although not springy, and rather 
apt to be damp and musty. . . . By day the futons are 
placed in closets out of sight, or hung over the bal- 
conies to air, coming back damper than ever, if the ser- 
vants forget to bring them in before sunset." 

At Shimoda Commodore Perry found nine Buddhist 
temples, one large Shinto temple, and a great number of 
smaller shrines. At the door of the main apartment 
to the temples of Buddha there was a drum on the left 
and a bell on the right, to awaken the attention of the 
idols when the devout come to pray. 

In connection with each Buddhist monastery was a 
well-kept graveyard, where statues of Buddha, some 
life-size and some not larger than a foot high, were 
generously distributed. Fresh cut flowers were daily 
deposited before the tombs and the idols. 



i 



MATTHEW CALBRAITII PERRY. 429 

A broad avenue of fir and juniper trees led to tlie 
great Shinto temple, which was very plain both without 
and within. A subscription list, thirty feet long, hung 
on the walls of the temple, giving the names of those 
who provided for the expenses of the temple service. 
From the door hung a straw rope connected with a bell, 
that the deity worshipped might know when the reli- 
gious call was made. 

At present the established religion of Japan, save 
where Christianity has been accepted, is Shintoism. 
The great divinity of the Shinto religion is the Sun 
Goddess Amaterasu. From her, according to Japanese 
belief, the Mikados are directly descended. The first 
emperor, or Mikado, about whom there is any authentic 
history, was Jimmu Tenno, the fifth in descent from the 
Sun-Goddess. He reigned from 660 to 585 b.c. He 
married Tatara, the most beautiful woman in Japan, the 
daughter of one of his captains, and died at the age of 
one hundred and twenty-seven. 

Isabella L. Bird, in her " Unbeaten Tracks in Japan,'^ 
written in 1880, says there are about 98,000 Shinto 
temples in Japan, which number includes all the way- 
side shrines and the shrines in the groves. Miss Scid- 
more says there are about twice this number. ^^ The 
characteristics of ^ Pure Shinto,' '' says Miss Bird (Mrs. 
Bishop), '' are the absence of an ethical and doctrinal 
code, of idol-worship, of priestcraft, and of any teachings 
concerning a future state, and the deification of heroes, 
emperors, and great men, together with the worship of 
certain forces and objects in nature.'' 

The Shinto temples are of unpainted wood. Within 
each shrine is a circular steel mirror, a copy of the one 
given by the Sun-Goddess as an emblem of herself to 



430 MATTHEW CALBRAITR PERRY. 

Ninigi, when she sent him down to govern the world. 
^^ In the pure Shinto temples/' says Miss Bird, ^* which 
do not even display the mirror, there is a kind of recep- 
tacle concealed behind the closed doors of the actual 
shrine, which contains a case only exposed to view on 
the day of the annual festival, and which is said to con- 
tain the spirit of the deity to whom the temple is dedi- 
cated, the ' august spirit substitute/ or ' God's seed.' " 

Shintoism was the ancient religion of Japan ; but 
Buddhism, being introduced in the sixth century, made 
rapid progress, and was almost the only religion till the 
restoration of the Mikado to power in 1868, when Shin- 
toism again became the State religion. 

Buddhist temples are still built by the faithful ; and 
Miss Alice Mabel Bacon describes a great one, building 
at Kyoto, where the women, " wishing to have some part 
in the sacred work, cut off their abundant hair, a beauty 
perhaps more prized by the Japanese women than by 
those of other countries, and from the material thus 
obtained they twisted immense cables, to be used in 
drawing the timbers from the mountains to the site of 
the temple. The great black cables hang in the un- 
finished temple to-day." 

"This Higashi Hongwanji " (Eastern Temple), says 
Miss Scidmore, "was eight years in building, and is the 
largest temple in Japan." Of the ropes of hair, she 
says, " The largest rope is five inches in diameter and 
two hundred and fifty feet long, the hair, wound in a 
dozen different strands around a slender core of hemp, 
having been given by three thousand five hundred of the 
pious maids and matrons of the province of Echizen. 
Here and there in this giant cable are pathetic threads 
of white hair, the rest being deep black." 



MATTHEW GALBRAITII PERRY. 481 

The services are very elaborate, and bear a strong 
resemblance to those of the Roman Catholic Church. 
In the country, more frequently than in the cities, 
is seen the Nag are kanjo (flowing invocation). A 
piece of cotton cloth is suspended by four corners to 
stakes set in the ground near a brook. Resting on the 
cloth, or if in the city, in a pail of water, is a wooden 
dipper. The passers-by offer a prayer with the aid of 
the rosary, dip a cup full of water, pour it on the cloth, 
and when it has strained through, move on. This act is 
to help a mother out of Hades in the Lake of Blood 
who has died at the birth of a child, on account of some 
sin committed in a previous state of existence. When 
the cloth is so worn out that it no longer permits the 
water to drain through it, the spirit of tlie mother arises 
from Purgatory to live in a higher state of existence. 

It is said that the rich are able to procure at the 
temples cloth that will soon wear out, while the poor 
are able to buy only the stoutest woven fabric, so that 
unfortunately the poor mothers are kept longer in 
punishment. The Japanese have a proverb that ^Hhe 
judgments of Hades depend on money." 

The Japanese women pleased Perry with their gentle- 
ness and extreme courtesy. They marred their attrac- 
tiveness by painting the teeth black, as soon as they were 
married, and shaving the eyebrows. This ugly fashion 
has been done away by the Empress Haruko. Most 
travellers seem to agree with Sir Edwin Arnold in his 
^' Japonica'' and Henry Norman in his "Real Japan," 
published in 1892, that " The Japanese woman is the 
crown of tlie charm of Japan. In the noble lady and 
her frailest and most unfortunate sister alike, there is 
an indefinable something which is fascinating at first 



432 MATTHEW CALBRAITH PERRY. 

sight, and grows only more pleasing on acquaintance. . . . 
I think the charm lies chiefly . . . in an inborn gentleness 
and tenderness and sympathy, the most womanly of all 
qualities, combined with what the Eomans used to call ^a 
certain propriety ' of thought and demeanor, and used to 
admire so much." . . . The key to the character of the 
Japanese woman lies in the word obedience. Ages ago, 
her three great duties were religiously declared to be 
obedience : if a daughter, to her father ; if a wife, to her 
husband ; if a widow, to her eldest son. Mr. Griffis 
believes this abject obedience and polygamy are the 
great hindrances to the elevation of women in Japan. 
Miss Alice Mabel Bacon says in her ^^ Japanese Girls and 
Women : '^ '^ In Japan, the idea of a wife's duty to her 
husband includes no thought of companionship on terms 
of equality. The wife is simply the housekeeper, the 
head of the establishment, to be honored by the servants 
because she is the one who is nearest to the master, but 
not for one moment to be regarded as the master's 
equal. . . . She appears rarely with him in public, is 
expected always to wait upon him, and save him steps, 
and must bear all things from him with smiling face and 
agreeable manners. ... In all things the husband goes 
first, the wife second. If the husband drops his fan or 
his handkerchief, the wife picks it up. The husband is 
served first, the wife afterwards — a good, considerate, 
careful body-servant. . . . 

" Upon the 11th day of Feb. 1889, the day on which 
the Emperor, by his own act in giving a constitution to 
the people, limited his own power for the sake of put- 
ting his nation upon a level with the most civilized 
nations of the earth, he at the same time, and for the 
first time, publicly placed his wife upon his own level. 



MATTHEW CALBRAITII PERRY. 433 

" 111 an imperial progress made through tlie streets of 
Tokyo, the Emperor and Empress, for the first time in 
the history of Japan, rode together in the imperial 
coach/^ 

After Commodore Perry had spent some time at 
Shimoda, he visited tlie other open port, Hal^odate, 
which means ^^box shop/' The town lies at the base 
of a lofty promontory divided into three principal peaks. 
The houses were very neat, the streets sprinkled and 
swept, with wooden picket-fences and gates across the 
road at short intervals. These were opened for the people 
to pass during the day, but closed at night. 

In some of the better houses there were exquisite 
wood carvings. The walls were usually hung with rolls 
of ga^yly-colored paper, on which were painted their 
sacred bird, the stork, the winged tortoise, and the 
porpoise, or dolphin of the ancients. 

In the centre of the common sitting-room was a 
square hole built in with tiles and gravel where a char- 
coal fire was kept burning, with a tea-kettle suspended 
above it. There was thus a constant supply of hot 
water ready for tea, which is handed to every visitor on 
his arrival. 

In one of the burial-places at Hakodate, Perry saw a 
tall post in which an iron wheel was inserted on an axle. 
Every person who turned this wheel in passing was 
believed to obtain credit in the other world for one or 
more prayers. " This praying by wheel and axle,'' he' 
said, '' would seem to be the very perfection of a cere- 
monious religion, as it reduces it to a system of mechani- 
cal laws, w^hich, provided the apparatus is kept in order, 
a result easily obtained by a little oil, moderate use, and 
occasional repairs, can be readily executed witli the least 



434 MATTHEW CALBRAITII PERRY. 

possible expenditure of. Imman labor, and with all that 
economy of time and thought which seems the great 
purpose of our material and mechanical age/' 

While on the island of Yesso^ though rarely in the 
neighborhood of Hakodate, Perry saw some of the in- 
digenous races of Ainos. They are a little over five 
feet in height usually, and their bodies are covered 
with coarse black hair, for which reason they are called 
^' Hairy Kuriles.'^ 

Miss Bird travelled extensively among these people, 
so little known previously. She says they are stupid, 
gentle, good-natured, and submissive. Their huts are 
set on wooden stilts. They are made of reeds, tied upon 
a wooden framework, and covered with thatch. Their 
food consists largely of stews made of "wild roots, green 
beans, and seaweed, and shred dried fish and venison 
among them, adding millet, water, and some strong- 
smelling fish-oil,'' cooked for three hours, and stirred 
often with a wooden spoon. 

Miss Bird says the Ainos seem never to have heard of 
washing themselves, for when she bathed her hands and 
face, they thought she was performing an act of worship. 

The women do all the hard work, such as chopping 
wood, cultivating the soil, etc. The people are univer- 
sally tattooed, the process of disfigurement beginning 
when they are five years old. They cut lines on the 
upper lip, and fill the wounds with soot, washing the 
scarred parts of the body with a decoction of the bark of 
a tree to fix the pattern. The pattern on the lips is 
deepened and broadened till marriage. This custom has 
recently been prohibited, much to the regret of these 
savages, who say " It is a part of our religion." 

They are very fond of their children, though a boy is 



MATTHEW CALBRAITH PERRY, 435 

prized more highly than a girl. The babies are carried 
in a hood or net on the back of the mother or of another 
child. This is common among the poor of Japan. The 
children of the middle classes in Japan ride on the backs 
of nurses, while those of rich families and the nobility 
are carried in the arms of an attendant. Imperial babies 
are held day and night till they learn to walk. 

The Ainos worship the bear. They capture a cub, 
feed it in their house, their children play with it, till 
when it is strong and w^ell-grown, they have " the Festival 
of the Bear,'' kill it, put its head upon a pole, worship it, 
and drink quantities of sake. 

At the death of her husband, an Aino woman remains 
secluded for a period varying from six to twelve months ; 
at the death of his w4fe, the man secludes himself for 
thirty days. 

They have a great dread of death. They dress a 
corpse in its best clothes, sew it with some ornaments in 
a mat, and carry it on poles to some lonely grave, where 
it is laid in a recumbent position. 

Commodore Perry returned from his successful m*s- 
sion to Japan, January 12, 1855, having been absent over 
two years. He had shown remarkable firmness, tact, 
good sense, and ability. He at once hired a room in 
Washington, and aided by his secretaries, artists, and a 
Japanese lad as an attendant, he prepared for publica- 
tion the three sumptuous volumes of his report of the 
great country heretofore closed to the civilized world. 

His own land did not forget the honors due him. 
The city of New York presented him with a set of silver 
plate. The merchants of Boston had a medal struck in 
his honor. The citizens of Newport, his native city, 
tendered him a reception. Rhode Island, in the presence 



436 MATTHEW CALBEAITH PERRY. 

of her legislature, and at the hands of her chief magis- 
trate, gave him a solid silver salver weighing three hun- 
dred and nineteen ounces, suitably inscribed. 

When Perry's first volume was published, he sent a 
copy to Washington Irving, who wrote back : " You 
have gained for yourself a lasting name, and have won it 
without shedding a drop of blood, or inflicting misery 
on a human being. What naval commander ever won 
laurels at such a rate ? " 

Commodore Perry did not long survive his last impor- 
tant work. He wrote several papers on naval matters 
and diplomacy. In February, 1858, he took a severe cold, 
and March 4th, a little past midnight, died of rheumatism 
of the heart, at his home in Thirty-second Street, New 
York city. He was buried with distinguished honors 
from St. Mark's Church, the church bells tolling, and 
the minute-guns booming from the ships in the harbor. 
He lies buried at Newport near his famous brother, 
Oliver, and the other members of his family. His 
widow survived him twenty-one years, dying June 14, 
1879, at the age of 82. 

" He had both the qualities," says Mr. GrifRs, " neces- 
sary for war and for peaceful victory. Though his 
conquests in war and in peace, in science and in diplo- 
macy, were great, the victory over himself was first, 
greatest, and most lasting. He always kept his word and 
spoke the truth. . . . He seemed never idle for one 
moment of his life. . . . 

" In the matter of pecuniary responsibility, Perry was 
excessively sensitive, with a hatred of debt bordering on 
the morbid. . . . He believed a naval officer, as a servant 
of the United States Government, ought to be as chival- 
rous, as honest, as just and lovely in character^ to a boot- 



I 



MATTHEW CALBRAITH PERRY. 437 

black or a washerwoman as to a jewelled lady or a titled 
nobleman.'^ 

Perry once remarked to Kear-Admiral Almy, on a 
voyage home by way of the West Indies : " I have just 
finished the Bible. I have read it through from Genesis 
to Revelation. I make it a point to read it through 
every cruise. It is certainly a remarkable book, a most 
-wonderful book.'^ 

When, in 1842, the ships fitted out were supplied with 
Bibles by the government. Perry said, ^^The mere cost 
of these books, fifty cents each, is nothing to the 
moral effect which such an order will have in advancing 
the character of the service.'' 

Since Perry's time, a new nation has been born in 
Japan. Before he opened the ports, thinking men had 
become dissatisfied with the condition of things. The 
Mikado, from being an active ruler as in former cen- 
turies, liad become a mere figure-head. He never ap- 
peared in public. His subjects never saw his face. 
^^He sat on a throne of mats behind a curtain," says 
Mr. Griffis, ^' and his feet were never allowed to touch 
the earth. When he went abroad in the city, he rode in 
a car closely curtained, and drawn by bullocks." 

In 1868 a great revolution came. The Shogun, who 
was the actual ruler, was dethroned ; the daimios, or 
feudal princes, gave up their great estates and their 
thousands of '^ two-sworded " retainers, called the sa- 
micraiy and retired to private life ; and the present Mi- 
kado, Mitsu Hito, the one hundred and twenty-first 
Emperor of his line, became the ruling monarch. He is 
now a little over forty years of age, having been born in 
the Kyoto palace, November 3, 1852. The Empress Ha- 
rid^o is the daughter of Ichijo Tokada, a court noble of 



438 MATTHEW CALBRAITM PERRY. 

the highest rank. She is said to be well educated, of 
charming manners, helpful to the women of her realm, 
and talented as well. Several of her poems have been 
set to music. 

The Emperor and his court have all adopted European 
dress. Two among the foremost ladies at court are 
graduates of Vassar College. 

In 1868 the Mikado declared that " intellect and- 
learning should be sought for throughout the world," and 
the promise has been faithfully kept. Japanese boys 
were sent at once to foreign nations to learn the best 
that their schools afforded. Many came to America. 

A remarkable educational system was adopted in 1873. 
Upon the elementary schools alone, more than six mil- 
lion dollars are spent annually. Miss Bird says, " The 
glory and pride of Japanese educational institutions is 
the Imperial College of Engineering. . . in the opinion 
of many competent judges, the most complete and best- 
equipped engineering college in the world." This in- 
stitution at Tokyo, with the Imperial University, the 
Medical, Naval and Military Schools, are an honor to the 
nation, and the surprise and admiration of foreigners. 

The first short telegraph line was built in 1869 ; now 
they thread Japan in every direction. Bell telephones 
have been imported into the country. There are seven- 
teen hundred miles of railroad, covering almost the 
entire length of the main island, one road running east 
and west, says the new '^ Handbook for Travellers in 
Japan," just written by Basil Hall Chamberlain and 
W. B. Mason. The former has also just published 
"Things Japanese," a mine of valuable information. 

The usual mode of travel is by the jinrikisha, in- 
vented in 1873, a small carriage with two high wheels, 



MATTHEW CALBRAITH PERRY. 439 

and a pair of shafts, in which are one, two, or three 
men as runners. A tolerably good runner, says Miss 
Bird, can trot forty miles a day, at the rate of about 
four miles an hour. The runners do not live on an 
average over five years ; and this unnatural method of 
life, " making draught animals of themselves," brings 
on heart and lung disease. 

"The fleet of Japan,'' says Mr. Henry Norman, 
" numbers some of the finest and fastest vessels afloat. 
She has at her command an army of fifty thousand 
highly trained and perfectly equipped men in peace, and 
one hundred and fifty thousand in war. . . . The arsenal 
at Koishikawa is simply Woolwich on a smaller scale, and 
its English machinery turns out one hundred rifles and 
thirty thousand cartridges (seventy thousand if neces- 
sary) per day. . . , The Military College and Academy 
are models of such institutions. ' One of the foremost 
of similar institutions which I have seen in the world,' 
I saw that General Grant had written in the visitors' 
book of one of them." 

The first newspaper, according to Miss Bird, was 
started in 1871. Now there are thirty -five daily papers 
in Tokyo alone, a city of one million three hundred 
and eighty -nine thousand people, most of them morning 
papers. 

Christianity has made marked progress since the 
opening of Japan. The life of the noble Japanese, 
Joseph H. Neesima, by Prof. Arthur Sherburne Hardy, 
as fascinating as a novel, is an illustration of what one 
educated Christian can do for his native land. 

Seeing some Christian tracts in Chinese, in Tokio, 
Neesima determined to come to America and study. 
He managed to get on board a ship bound for this coun- 



440 MATTHEW CALBRAITH PERRY. 

try, though if detected the punishment for leaving 
Japan was death. Neesima found a noble man of means 
in Boston, the Hon. Alpheus Hardy, who educated him 
at his own expense. Later he accompanied Mr. Tanaka, 
the Japanese Minister of Education, to England, France, 
Sweden, Denmark, Eussia, and Germany, to ascertain 
the best methods for Japan in her schools and colleges, 
and then went back to his own people to found a great 
University in Kyoto, now having about six hundred 
pupils, and to preach the gospel. The Doshisha School 
in Kyoto, established in 1875, has about twenty buildings, 
including thirteen dormitories, a gymnasium, a chapel, 
library, scientific department, etc. 

Among the last words of Mr. Neesima, who died 
Jan. 23, 1890, at the age of forty-seven, when told that 
his friends would carry on the work at the college, were, 
"Sufficient, sufficient.'' '* And at twenty minutes past 
four," says Mr. Hardy, "with the words, ^ Peace, Joy, 
Heaven,' on his lips, entered into rest." 

The procession which followed him to the grave was 
a mile and a half long, the bier hidden by flowers, which 
the people of "the flowery kingdom" love so well. 
Men like Joseph Neesina are to be the deliverance of 
Japan from Shintoism and Buddhism. 

Japan sends us her silk and her tea to the amount of 
many million dollars annually. Her art has spread over 
the world. Her lacquered ware, with its five coats of 
varnish, drawn like sap from the lacquer-tree, is 
universally admired. 

Her women must be educated and elevated till the 
ideal wifehood is possible : " A companion in solitude, 
a father in advice, a mother in all seasons of distress, 
a rest in passing through life's wilderness." 



MATTHEW CALBRAITH PERRY, 441 

Women in Japan occupied a more prominent position 
formally than now. Some of her greatest rulers hav^e 
been women; and many of her classics are the work of 
women, written about 1000 a.d. Jingu Kogo, 201-269 
A.D., who conquered Corea, was a queen of great abil- 
ity. She is still worshipped in many of the temples. 

Japan is now visited by thousands of foreigners annu- 
ally. Her flowers, chrysanthemums, wistarias, camellias ; 
her neat homes, as Sir Edwin Arnold in his ^^ Japonica" 
says, ^^ cheap to build, beautiful in appearance, spotlessly 
pure, and with proper arrangements eminently salu- 
brious ; ^' her hundreds of public baths ; her cheerful, 
active, progressive people, are all an interesting study. 
Perry opened a new land to America, and his name will 
not be forgotten. 



GENERAL A. W. GREELY AND OTHER 
ARCTIC EXPLORERS. 



SEVERAL Arctic voyages, since the sad one of Sir 
John Franklin, have been most interesting and 
pathetic. Many explorers have striven to place their 
flag at the North Pole. 

Captain Weyprecht of Austria, and Lieutenant Julius 
Payer, in the Tegetthoff, sailed from Bremerhaven, Ger- 
many, June 13, 1872. The ship was beset by the ice off 
the west coast of Nova Zembla, where the men remained 
on her for two winters, and then abandoned her. Aug. 
31, 1873, they discovered to the far north, above Siberia, 
Franz Joseph Land. They made a sledge journey to 
82° 5', about one hundred and sixty miles be3^ond their 
ship, naming the country discovered. Crown Prince 
E/udolph Land. Here they planted the Austro-Hun- 
garian flag. An appearance of land beyond 83° north 
latitude, they called Petermann Land. 

May 29, 1875, Sir George S. Nares of England sailed 
in the Alert and Discovery through Smith Sound for 
the North Pole. The Discovery was left in latitude 81° 
44' at the entrance of Lady Franklin Bay. On Sept. 1 
the Alert reached 82° 27', a higher latitude than any 
other ship up to that time — the Polaris reached 82° 16' 
— when she was met by solid ice. Here she remained 
for eleven months. 

442 



AUG TIC EXPLORERS. 443 

From this point their sledging parties went out, the 
sledges drawn by men instead of dogs. Grinnell Land 
was somewhat explored by Lt. Aldrich, the north-west 
coast of Greenland by Lt. Beaumont, while one party, 
under Commodore Albert H. Markham, travelled north 
on the frozen sea, and reached a point four hundred 
miles from the North Pole, latitude 83° 20' 26'', — the 
highest point attained up to that date. 

Commodore Markham says in his journal. May 12, 
1876: ^^We had some severe walking, struggling 
through snow up to our waists, over or through which 
the labor of dragging a sledge would be interminable, 
and occasionally almost disappearing through cracks and 
fissures, until twenty minutes to noon when a halt was 
called. . . . 

" At noon we obtained a good altitude, and proclaimed 
our latitude to be 83° 20' 26" N., exactly 399|- miles from 
the North Pole. On this being duly announced, three 
cheers were given, with one more for Captain Nares : 
then the whole party, in the exuberance of their spirits 
at having reached their turning-point, sang the ' Union 
Jack of Old England,' and the ^ Grand Palaeocrystic 
Sledging Chorus,' winding up like loyal subjects with 
' God save the Queen.' " 

Several of Markham's men were disabled by scurvy. 
One died, and eleven of the original seventeen were 
brought back to the ship on relief sledges. 

After a journey full of hardship. Captain Nares 
returned to England in November, 1876. 

On July 4, 1878, Baron Nordenskiold, the noted 
Swedish scientist, sailed from Gothenburg, Sweden, in 
the Vega, Captain Palander commanding, hoping to make 
the northeast passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific. 



444 GENERAL A, W. GREELY 

The first attempt to make this passage ended in dis- 
aster. Sir Hugh Willoughby sailed from England with 
three ships, the Bona Esperanza, in which was Sir Hugh, 
the Edward Bonaventure, and the Bona Confidentia, in 
1553. Sebastian Cabot, then an old man, superintended 
the preparations for the voyage. 

Two of the vessels, the Edward Bonaventure having 
been separated from them by a storm, wintered on the 
coast of Eussian Lapland, it is probable at the mouth of 
the Varzina Eiver. During the winter. Sir Hugh and 
his sixty-two companions all perished, doubtless from 
scurvy. A Kussian fisherman found their bodies the 
follovA^ing year. From Sir Hugh's journal it was ascer- 
tained that most were alive in January, 1554. The two 
vessels and the body of the distinguished commander 
were sent to England in 1555. The Bona Esperanza was 
soon after driven by a storm into the North Sea, and 
was never heard from. The Edward Bonaventure, com- 
manded by Eichard Chancellor, returned to England in 
1554 ; in 1556 he went to the Dwina Eiver with a Eussian 
ambassador, and suite of sixteen men, and goods valued 
at 20,000 pounds. The vessel was wrecked in Aberdour 
Bay, and Chancellor, his wife, and seven Eussians were 
drowned. 

The Vega made a most interesting and successful 
voyage. ^At Goose Land, on the coast of Nova Zembla, 
they studied the habits of the great numbers of geese 
and swans, Irom which the region takes its name. The 
nests of the swans are so large that they can be seen on 
the open plain for a great distance. They are built of 
moss, plucked up from about the nests. The female 
hatches the four grayish-white eggs, while the male 
remains near by. The geese build their nests on little 




A. E. NORDENSKIOLD. 



AND OTHER ARCTIC EXPLORERS. 445 

hillocks close to the small lakes which abound in Goose 
Land. 

The Samoyeds in European Russia proved an inter- 
esting study. They are small in stature, with unkempt 
hair, and, like the Lapps, live largely by their reindeer. 
A rich Samoyed will own a thousand or more. They 
catch whales and walrus, and barter with the Russians. 

The Samoyeds sacrifice animals to their idols, eating 
the flesh of the animals which are offered, and making a 
mound of their bones. At the sacrificial feasts they 
cover the mouths of the idols with blood and brandy. 
In their graves they deposit wooden arrows, an axe, 
knife, ornaments, and rolled up pieces of bark, which 
the occupant is supposed to need, probably to light fires 
in the other world. 

Among the Siberian natives, clothes were sometimes 
found hanging on a bush beside the graves, and among 
the richer natives, some rouble notes with the food, that 
the dead might have ready money in the other world to 
purchase what they need. 

The Samoyed has one or more wives. "These are 
considered by the men," says Baron ISTordenskiold, "as 
having equal rights with themselves, and are treated 
accordingly, which is very remarkable.'^ 

In these Polar Seas, the voyagers found innumerable 
flocks of birds, especially near uninhabited regions. 
The eggs of the little auk, or rotge, were sometimes 
found laid upon the ice. The eggs of the looms — each 
bird lays but one — are laid on the bare rock. The birds 
often quarrel for a place on the rock, when the egg is 
thus precipitated into the sea. The eider builds its nests 
on low islands, so that the surrounding water prevents the 
mountain foxes from disturbing it. There are usually 



446 GENERAL A. W. GREELY 

five or six eggs in a nest, and sometimes more, as the 
eider steals eggs from other birds. The nest is made 
of soft, rich down, which is better than that obtained 
from the dead birds. When the mother is driven 
from the nest, she hastily scrapes the down over her 
eggs, so that they may not be visible. The nests are 
so close together that it is difficnlt to avoid stepping on 
the eggs. 

The voyagers found Polar bears and walruses in abun- 
dance. ^' If an unarmed man falls in with a Polar bear," 
says Nordenskiold, ^^some rapid movements and loud 
cries are generally sufficient to put him to flight, but if 
the man flies, he is certain to have the bear after him at 
full speed. If the bear is wounded, he always takes 
to flight. He often lays snow upon the wound with his 
fore-paws ; sometimes in his death-struggles he scrapes 
with his forefeet a hole in the snow, in which he buries 
his head." 

Concerning the walrus, which is huiited for its skin, 
blubber, and oil, Nordenskiold says : " When the walrus 
ox gets very old, he swims about by himself as a solitary 
individual, but otherwise animals of the same age and sex 
keep together in large herds. The young walrus long fol- 
lows its mother, and is protected by her with evident fond- 
ness and very conspicuous maternal affection. Her first 
care when she is pursued is, accordingly, to save her 
young, even at the sacrifice of her own life. . . . How- 
ever eagerly she may try by blows and cuffs to get her 
young under water, or lead her pursuers astray by diving 
with it under her forepaw, she is generally overtaken 
and killed. Such a hunt is truly grim, but the wal- 
rus-hunter knows no mercy in following his occupa- 
tion." 



AND OTHER ARCTIC EXPLORERS. 447 

The mother is usually lost iu the water after being 
killed. Sometimes the young is saved, but it does not 
live long. " It is easily tamed/^ says ISTordenskiold, " and 
soon regards its keeper with warm attachment. It seeks 
as best it can — poorly equipped as it is for moving 
about on dry land — to follow the seamen on the deck, 
and gives itself no rest if it be left alone.'' 

Lieutenant Greely says the full-grown walrus is from 
twelve to fifteen feet long, with a small, short head. 
The broad fore and hind paws are about two feet long, 
and the tusks of adults about a foot and a half long. 

The white whale is from twelve to eighteen feet in 
length, and yields not far from a thousand pounds of 
meat and blubber. The skin, called '^ mattak " by the 
Eskimos, is much valued as an anti-scorbutic. 

The narwhal, or unicorn, is of a yellowish-white 
color, and has a long tusk projecting from the left side 
of the upper jaw. This tusk is often about ten^ feet 
long, equal to the length of the body of the animal. It 
is probably used by the narwhal as a weapon. 

The Vega sailed through Kara Sea past the New 
Siberian Islands. Plere portions of the skeletons of the 
extinct mammoth (elephant) abound. In a previous 
journey in 1876, Nordenskiold found on the Yenisei 
Eiver bones and some fragments of hide of a mammoth 
nearly twenty-five millimeters (about an inch) thick, 
which had been imbedded " hundreds of thousands, per- 
haps millions of years." 

In Siberia whole animals have been found frozen in 
the earth, with " solidified blood, flesh, hide, and hair." 
In 1799 one was found by the Tunguses who live east 
of the Lena Eiver. They waited five years for the ground 
to thaw so that the salable tusks could be uncovered. 



448 GENERAL A, W. GREELY 

Meantime some of the flesh was destroyed by dogs and 
other animals. In 1806 the skeleton, part of the hide, 
and a large quantity of the hair a foot and a half long, 
were taken away. Parts of the eye could still be clearly 
distinguished. 

In 1839 a complete mammoth was uncovered by a 
landslip on the shore of a lake west of the Yenisei Eiver. 
It was almost entire, even a black tongue hanging out 
of the mouth. 

Nordenskiold believes that the climate of Siberia was 
then about the same as at present, from the leaves of the 
dwarf birch, northern wallows, shells, and other things 
found in the earth in which the mammoths were imbedded. 
The Vega finally found herself beset by the ice, and went 
into winter quarters in Bering's Strait, just beyond 
Koljutschin Bay, Nov. 25. 

They found the natives, the Tchuktches (or Chukches), 
very friendly, and glad to furnish them with bear and 
reindeer meat as far as they were able. " The vessel's 
tent-covered deck," says Nordenskiold, ^^soon became a 
veritable reception saloon for the whole population of 
the neighborhood. Dog-team after dog-team stood all 
day in rows, or, more correctly, lay snowed up before the 
ice-built flight of steps to the deck of the Vega.'' 

A native who had lost his way came on board in a 
blinding snowstorm, thermometer-— 36°, carrying his dog, 
frozen stiff. The dog was for hours rubbed and warmed, 
and finally, to the amazement of all, came to life again. 

In excursions among the Tchuktches, the Vega officers 
found them a tall, hardy race, kind and peaceable, usually 
with one wife for each husband. " Within the family 
the most remarkable unanimity prevails, so that we never 
heard a hard word exchanged, either between man and 



AND OTHER ARCTIC EXPLORERS. 449 

wife, or parents and children; , . . the power of the 
woman appears to be very great. In making the more 
important bargains, even about weapons and hunting im- 
plements, she is, as a rule, consulted, and her advice is 
taken. There is great affection m the families, and much 
caressing of children. , . . 

*^ Criminal statistics have been rendered impossible 
for want of crimes, if we except acts of violence com, 
mitted under the influence of liquor." When brandy was 
first offered to the Tchuktches by whites, the taste 
was most obnoxious to them ; but they soon learned to 
like fire-water, and to suffer from its use. 

They are very different in their treatment of dogs 
from the Eskimos. These are of the same breed as the 
dogs in Danish Greenland, but smaller. " As watch- 
dogs," says Nordenskiold, " they have not been required 
in a country where theft or robbery appears never to 
take place. The power of barking they have therefore 
completely lost, or perhaps they never possessed it." The 
natives at first were much frightened by the bark of two 
Scotch collies on the Vega. 

When the Vega officials went to a reindeer camp to 
purchase some of the herd for fresh meat, they were 
refused, even when tobacco, bread, rum, and even guns, 
were offered in exchange. The herd of fifty, led by an 
old reindeer with large horns, came in the early morning to 
meet the master of the house, and rubbed his nose against 
the Tchuktches's hand. The herd all stood m order, while 
the man took each reindeer by the horns, the animal, in 
turn, rubbing his horns against the man's hands. At a 
given sign the whole herd wheeled and went back to its 
pasturage on the hillside. 

Marco Polo, in his wonderful travels in the country of 



450 GENERAL A. W, GREELY 

Kubla Khaiij had learned somewhat of these interesting 
people. 

The breaking up of the ice enabled the Vega to press 
forward on her journey, July 18, 1879. She passed down 
Bering's Strait and anchored on St. Lawrence Island. 
The natives first saw a European, June 27, 1816, Otto 
von Kotzebue, after whom Kotzebue Sound was named. 
When invited to their tents, he says, " a dirty skin was 
spread on the floor, on which I had to sit ; and then they 
came in one after the other, embraced me, rubbed their 
noses hard against mine, and finished their caresses by 
spitting in their hands, and then stroking me several 
times over the face." 

The next stopping -place was Bering Island, named, as 
also the strait, for a Dane, Vitus Bering, who, after seve- 
ral successful voyages, died here of scurvy in December, 
1790. Most of his men fell victims to the same disease. 
The island was at that time inhabited by thousands of 
foxes, which were driven away by the men with sticks 
while they were building a new vessel from the old one 
which had been stranded on the beach. 

The shore was covered with sea-otters, which had no 
fear of men, till hundreds of them were caught. George 
Wilhelm Steller, the naturalist of the Bering expedi- 
tion, says, " The male and female are much attached to 
each other, embrace and kiss e ach other like men. The 
female is also very fond of its young. When attacked, 
she never leaves it in the lurch; and when danger is not 
near, she plays with it in a thousand w^ays, almost like 
a child-loving mother with her young ones, throws it 
sometimes up in the air, and catches it with her fore- 
feet like a ball, swims about with it in her bosom, 
throws it away now and then to let it exercise itself in 



AND OTHER ARCTIC EXPLORERS. 451 

r-he art of swimming, but takes it to herself with kisses 
and caresses when it is tired/^ 

The Vega arrived at Yokohama, Japan, Sept. 2, 
1879. Their journey homeward was one continued ova- 
tion to the skilful and brave navigators who were the 
first to make the brilliant northeast passage. 

On July 8, 1879, the Jeannette sailed from San Fran- 
cisco, in the attempt to reach the North Pole by way of 
Bering's Strait. She was under command of Lieutenant 
George W. De Long, U.S.IN"., and was bought and fitted 
out largely at the expense of Mr. James Gordon Bennett, 
of the New York Herald, She was formerly the ship 
Pandora, under command of Captain Allen Young, E-.N. 
The Jeannette sailed towards Wrangell Land and Herald 
Island, north of Siberia, and in a few weeks was fast in 
the ice-pack. She drifted about in the pack helplessly 
for two years (lacking two months), and was crushed 
by the ice June 13, 1881, in latitude 77 N. longitude 
155 E. 

At eleven o'clock at night all that was possible was 
removed from the ship, and placed in three boats, while 
the thirty-three men who composed the ship's party 
escaped on an ice-floe. The ship sunk, five hours later, 
at four o'clock on the morning of the thirteenth. 

They were three hundred and fifty miles from the Si- 
berian Coast, and fifteen hundred miles from Yakutsk on 
bhe Lena River. They hoped to reach the New Siberian 
Islands, and then go by boat to the Lena Delta. 

They made only a mile and one-half in the knee-deep 
snow in the first three hours. One of the men fainted, 
and several were ill and unfit for duty. They gained 
only a mile or two a day, as the men had to go over the 
road thirteen times to bring up supplies, — six times 



452 GENERAL A, W. GREELY * 

empty-handed and seven times with loads, — making 
twenty-six miles to advance two. 

Thaddeus Island, New Siberia, was reached Ang. 20, 
and Sept. 12 the Asiatic coast was in sight. A 
severe storm came up, and the boats were separated. 
The boat under command of Engineer George W. Mel- 
ville and Lieutenant J. W. Danenhower, after a perilous 
voyage entered one of the eastern mouths of the Lena 
Eiver, and Sept. 26, fourteen days after the boats 
separated, reached a small village, where lived some Si- 
berian exiles. 

The whole company were in a wretched condition. 
'' Our legs,'' says Melville in his book, " In the Lena 
Delta/' " presented a terribly swollen appearance, being 
frozen from the knees down; and those places where 
they had previously been so frozen and puffed as to 
burst such moccasins as were not already in tatters, or 
force the seams into gaps corresponding to the cracks in 
our bleeding hands and feet, were now in a frightful 
condition. The blisters and sores had run together, and 
our flesh became as sodden and spongy to the touch as 
though we were afflicted with the scurvy." 

Two men at the little village started on the long jour- 
ney to Bulun to tell the Russian authorities of the ar- 
rival of the Americans. On their way they met some 
natives with their reindeer sleds, who were also going to 
Bulun, with two men, Nindemann and Noros, who had 
been m the boat with De Long. These two had left De 
Long Oct. 9, in a starving condition, with the faint 
hope that they might reach Bulun, and bring relief be- 
fore death came. 

As soon as word was brought to Melville, he started 
Nov. 5, with a dog-team to their aid. The two sea- 



I 




GEORGE W. DE LONG. 



AND OTHER ARCTIC EXPLORERS. 453 

men were too ill to return, but they described the route 
back to De Long as best they could. Twenty-five days 
had passed since De Long's men were sent, and it was 
thought probable that all were dead. 

Melville searched along the river for three weeks, in 
deep snow, with dogs and men exhausted, finding the 
log-books under a cache, left by De Long, but learning 
nothing of the missing party, beyond a certain point, 
where the trail was lost. Most reluctantly he gave up 
the search. 

Ill early spring, March 16, the search was renewed; 
and on the 23d the bodies of the missing men were dis- 
covered. Captain De Long, Surgeon Ambler, and Ah Sam, 
the Chinese cook, were found beside each other buried in 
the snow. Four poles lashed together, projecting from 
the snow-drift a Remington rifle hung across the forks 
of the sticks, pointed to the place where the dead lay. 

By the side of De Long was his note-book, with his 
last feebly-written words. His arm protruded above the 
snow, as if he had thrown the book just before death, 
with the hope that it might be found by some person to 
tell the pitiful story. '' He lay on his right side, with 
his right hand under his cheek, his head pointing north, 
and his face turned to the west.'' 

Dr. Ambler lay on his face, and had bitten into his 
hand in his agony, and the snow was stained with his 
blood. ^^None of the three," says Melville, " had boots or 
mittens on, their legs and feet being covered with strips 
of woollen blanket and pieces of the tent cloth, bound 
around to the knees with bits of rope and the waist- 
belts of their comrades." 

This record of De Long's showed that his party had 
landed in the Lena Delta, Sept. 17 about ninety-five 



454 GENERAL A. W, GREELY 

or more miles from the nearest settlement. The entry- 
made Sept. 19 read : '' Opened our last can of pemmi- 
can, and so cut it that it must suffice for four days' food ; 
then we are at the end of our provisions and must eat 
the dog (the last of the forty), unless Providence sends 
something in our way. When the dog is eaten '' — ? 

Sept. 21 two reindeer were shot. Oct. 3 the dog 
was shot for food. H. H. Erickson had now become 
delirious, and soon died. Oct. 6 the journal reads : 
^' As to burying him, I cannot dig a grave ; the ground 
is frozen, and I have nothing to dig with. There is 
nothing to do but to bury him in the river. Sewed 
him up in the flags of the tent, and covered him with 
my flag. Got tea ready, and with one-half ounce alcohol 
we will try to make out to bury him. But we are all so 
weak that I do not see how we are going to move." 
Erickson was buried in the river at 12.40 p.m., the 
burial service read, and three volleys fired over him. 

" Oct. 10, eat deerskin scraps. . . . Nothing for sup- 
per except a spoonful of glycerine. 

^^Oct. 14, Friday. Breakfast, willow tea. Dinner, 
one-half teaspoonful sweet-oil and willow tea. Alexai 
shot one ptarmigan. Had soup. 

'^ Oct. 15. Breakfast, willow tea and two old boots. 

^^Oct. 17. Alexai died, covered him with ensign. . . . 

^^Oct. 21, one hundred and thirty-first day (from 
leaving ship). Kaack was found dead at midnight. 

" Friday, Oct. 28, one hundred and thirty-eighth day. 
Iverson died during early morning. 

" Saturday, Oct. 29, one hundred and thirty-ninth day. 
Dressier died during the night. 

^^ Sunday, Oct 30, one hundred and fortieth day. Boyd 
and Gortz died during the night. Mr. Collins dying." 



AND OTHER ARCTIC EXPLORERS. 455 

This was the last entry. De Long probably died that 
day or the next. 

The twelve were all dead several days before Mel- 
ville started on the search, Nov. 5. The bodies were 
interred by Melville, and afterwards brought home to 
the United States, a distance of twelve thousand one 
hundred and ninety-one miles. Everywhere along the 
route, in Asia, Europe, and America, the bodies of 
the dead heroes were treated with the utmost honor. 
They were followed by a grand procession in New York 
on Washington's birthday, 1884, and tenderly buried. 
The third boat party, under Lieutenant Charles W. 
Chipp, was never heard from; probably all on board 
perished in the gale. 

Two years after De Long sailed in the Jeannette, an 
expedition was sent out by the United States under 
Lieutenant Adolphus W. Greely. Through Lieutenant 
Weyprecht of the Austrian navy, the United States 
promised to unite with other nations in establishing 
international circumpolar stations in the interests of 
science. Magnetic and meteorological investigations 
were to be made at fourteen different points by eleven 
different nations. It was decided to make one station 
at Lady Franklin Bay, in latitude 81° 44' N., Congress 
appropriating twenty-five thousand dollars for the work 
at this place. 

Lieutenant Greely of the 5th U. S. Cavalry was 
chosen to command the expedition. 

He was born in Newburyport, Mass., March 27, 1844, 
and was therefore at the time of starting, 1881, thirty- 
seven years of age. He was fitted for college at the 
High School in Newburyport, graduating in 1860, at a 
younger age than any before him save one. When the 



456 GENERAL A, W. GREELY 

Civil War broke out, the lad of seventeen desired to join 
the 40th New York Volunteer Infantry, but was not 
received. On July 3, 1861, he was enrolled as a private 
in Major Ben. Perley Poore's Rifle Battalion, of the 19th 
Eegiment, Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. The same 
year he was made a corporal.^ 

He distinguished himself for brave and faithful ser- 
vice during our Civil War; served at Ball's Bluff, at 
the siege of Yorktown, West Point, Fair Oaks, Peach 
Orchard ; was wounded at White Oak Swamp, fought at 
Malvern Hill and Chantilly, twice wounded at Antietam 
and lay in; the hospital for two months, and was ap- 
pointed first sergeant at Fredericksburg. 

In February, 1863, he was made a second lieutenant 
under the lamented Colonel Robert G. Shaw, in the 64th 
Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, and later 
served in the 81st United States Colored Infantry. He 
took an active part in the siege of Port Hudson. He 
was made first lieutenant April 11, 1864, and captain, 
March 26, 1865, having been brevetted major United 
States Volunteers, March 13, 1865, ^^ for faithful and 
meritorious services during the war.'' Two years later, 
March 7, 1867, Greely was appointed second lieutenant in 
the 36th Regular Infantry, and served with his regi- 
ment at Fort Sanders, Fort Bridger, and at Salt Lake 
City. In 1873 he determined a danger, or flood, line for 
the Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Cumberland, and Ten- 
nessee rivers, which has made it possible to prevent, in 
large measure, damage from high waters. 

Two years later, in 1875, Greely constructed the Texas 
division of military telegraph lines, building, in eleven 
months, eleven hundred and fifty miles of line. In 1876 
he received a six months' relief from duty, which time 



AND OTHER ARCTIC EXPLORERS, 457 

he spent in Europe, mostly in France. On his return 
he gave his time to constructing military telegraph 
lines in New Mexico, Arizona, Dakota, and Montana, 
and in examining the rivers of the Pacific coast for the 
establishing of danger lines. He married, June 20, 
1878, when he was thirty-five, Henrietta Hudson 
Nesmith, daughter of Thomas L. Nesmith of San 
Diego, Cal., formerly of New York City* 

Lieutenant Greely had now become an officer in the 
United States Artillery, and later in the 5th Cavalry, 
doing much scientific work in connection with the sig- 
nal service. It was therefore fitting that he should be 
chosen by the President to superintend the establishing 
of a signal station at Lady Franklin Bay in 1881. 

The ship Proteus, of six hundred and nineteen tons, 
built at Dundee for the sealing business, was chosen to 
take Lieutenant Greely and his party of twenty-five 
persons in all to their home in the far north, with pro- 
visions for three years. At the end of a year a ship 
was to be sent to them with supplies, and at the end of 
the second year a second relief ship with stores; and if 
these failed to reach Greely, he was not to remain in the 
Polar regions after Sept. 1, 1883, but go southward by 
boat until the relief vessel should meet him. 

On July 7, 1881, the Proteus sailed away with her 
precious freight under the command of Captain Eichard 
Pike, who had had much experience in ice navigation in 
the seal-fishing in Labrador. 

She took with her the hope and pride of many fami- 
lies, who bade a cheerful good-by, yet with aching 
hearts. Lieutenant F. F. Kislingbury had been in ser- 
vice for fifteen years, was a brave man of fine physique 
and mind, " and never spared himself,'' as Lieutenant 



458 GENERAL A. W, GEEELY 

Greely said in his report, " any personal exertion which 
would add to the personal comfort or pleasure of others/' 

Lieutenant James B. Lockwood, the son of Gen. 
Henry H. Lockwood of Maryland, a young man of 
twenty-nine^ the idol of his family, had been eight years 
in service, always on the frontier in Arizona, Nebraska, 
or other Western States. He was well read, a good 
Spanish scholar, quite skilled in music, and most active 
in mind and body, ^^ a man,'' as Greely said, ^^of unvary- 
ing truthfulness, good judgment, and Christian charity." 

Sergeant Edward Israel, a graduate of Ann Arbor 
University, a young man of means and ability, was the 
astronom.er of the expedition. 

Sergeant George W. Rice, a lawyer and professional 
photographer as well, was a young man of promise, and 
proved most valuable to the expedition. Sergeants 
Jewell and Ralston had served long and faithfully as 
meteorological observers. Sergeant David L. Brainard 
of tlie 2d Cavalry, twenty-five years old, had been twice 
wounded in Indian campaigns under General Miles, and 
was a man of unusual force of character and honor. 

After a pleasant passage, the Proteus stopping at 
Godhavn, Greenland, to purchase twelve Eskimo dogs 
and food for them, and also at Eitenbenk and Uper- 
navik for nineteen more dogs and Eskimo guides, 
the Greely party crossed Melville Bay without acci- 
dent, reaching Lady Franklin Bay Aug. 12, 1881. The 
Proteus broke her way through nearly two miles of 
heavy ice, some of it ten feet thick, to reach Discovery 
Bay in the northern part of Lady Franklin Bay, where 
Greely wa,s to establish his quarters, the place where 
the English ship Discovery had wintered in 1875-76. 

A house sixty by seventeen feet was built at once, and 



AND OTHER AUG TIC EXPLORERS. 459 

the station named Fort Conger, in honor of Senator 0. 
D. Conger, who had shown much interest in the expedi- 
tion. Fourteen musk-oxen were soon killed, and their 
flesh preserved for the winter's use. Greely wisely pre- 
vented the killing of more than was for their absolute 
need, having no sympathy with the shooting for mere 
pleasure, a thing which seems scarcely possible to those 
who love animals. 

Although the surrounding scenery was grand in many 
respects, yet far from home and friends the place 
could not be other than desolate after a time. On the 
borders of open streams, grasses and buttercups were 
growing, and higher up on the glacier drift there were 
countless yellow Arctic poppies in blossom. The largest 
plant — there were no shrubs — was the creeping Arctic 
willow, about a foot long and an inch above the ground. 

The autumn days passed rapidly in their work. 
Observations were made on the pressure of the atmos- 
phere, the direction and force of the wind, the kind and 
movement of clouds, the aurora and weather. Some 
sledge journeys were made; but the sun disappeared from 
sight Oct. 15, and they were left in darkness for one 
hundred and thirty-seven days, till Feb. 28. " At Fort 
Conger," says Greely, " stars were to be seen at local 
noon seven days after tlie sun had gone for the winter, 
and so remained visible in a cloudless sky for over four 
months. . . . The darkness of midday at Conger was 
such for nearly two months in midwinter, that the time 
could not be told from a watch held up with its face to 
the south.'^ 

From the long-continued darkness, their faces became 
a yellowish-green color, and they were irritable in tem- 
per, gloomy, disinclined to eat, and indisposed to exer- 



460 GENERAL A. W. GREELY 

Hon. Some of the men became mentally affected. A 
tri-weekly school was carried on by Greely throughout 
the winter^ and Lieutenant Lockwood edited a semi- 
monthly paper called the Arctic Moon. It died in two 
months from lack of interest. 

Lockwood wrote in his journal: "Another twenty- 
four hours of this interminable night nearly gone ! 
Thank God ! . . . The days and weeks seem weeks and 
months in passing." 

Much interest was taken in every new litter of 
puppies, as was but natural, removed as they were from 
everything living. Gypsy, their brightest dog, having 
lost her own offspring, " improved every opportunity in 
the absence of their own mothers, to suckle the young 
in other litters." One puppy, during the temporary 
abience of its mother, was placed with another litter, 
"but it was pushed away by the indignant parent, wlio 
declined any addition to her cares." 

About the middle of December some of the six weeks' 
old puppies, running out into an atmosphere — 45° 
to collect bits of food thrown out, were actually 
frozen to the ice, and had to be cut out with a hatchet ! 

The favorite sleeping-place for the dogs was the ash- 
barrel, or where the ashes had been strewn. When a 
dog Avould leave his place to attack a rival, he would 
lose his position by another taking it. " Sometimes," 
says Greely, " failing to dislodge a comrade comfortably 
ensconced on the coveted barrel, a dog jumped on top 
of the first coiner and curled himself up contentedh\ 
The under dog knew by bitter experience that to quar- 
rel was to lose his bed, and remained until worn out by 
the weight of his rival." 

The return of the sun was most heartily welcomed. 



AND OTHER ARCTIC EXPLORERS. 461 

March 1, Lockwood, with three men and a dog-sledge, 
started for Thank God Harbor, preparatory to his ap- 
23roaching jonrney towards the Pole. They visited the 
grave of C. F. Hall, and also that of the two Englishmen, 
Hand and Paul, who died on the exploring trip under 
Lieutenant Beaumont of the ISTares expedition. 

Dr. Pavy, the surgeon of the party, went with others 
to Cape Joseph Henry ; and Greely, with Privates Bie- 
derbick, Connell, and Whisler, journeyed over two hun- 
dred and fifty miles in Grinnell Land. A puppy team 
of eight, born at Fort Conger in November, hauled the 
first load of three hundred and fifty-five pounds. 

They explored the large Lake Hazen, 60 miles long 
by 6 wide, and covering 300 square miles ; they named 
after Greely 's wife, the Henrietta Nesmith Glacier, 
"a mass of sheer, solid ice, averaging about one hundred 
and seventy-five feet in height," of crescent shape, and 
about five miles from hill to hill, and discovered moun- 
tains and rivers unseen before by man. 

Later in the season Greely again explored Grinnell 
Land, naming the highest mountain seen. Mount C. A. 
Arthur. He says in his " Three Years of Arctic Service : '' 
^^ After two hours of steady climbing, I reached the sum- 
mit of the mountain in a worn-out condition. The ba- 
rometer stood at 25.35, indicating an ascent of over 
eighteen hundred feet, and an elevation above the sea 
of forty-five hundred feet. 

^^ The travelling was of such an exhausting character 
that Sergeant Lynn was unable to follow me ; and after 
wading about a half mile in snow four feet deep, under- 
lain with water two feet deep, he was so worn out that I 
sent liim back to the junction of the brooks, where he 
was ordered to await my return. In my tired condition, 



462 GENERAL A. W. GREELY 

I could never have reached the top except as a matter of 
honor and duty. Frequently I crawled on my hands and 
knees a long distance, at one time as far as a quarter of 
a mile. At times I threw the glasses ahead of me, so 
as to make it certain I should proceed. . . . 

^^When I was about a half mile from the top, farther 
progress seemed impossible. My strength failed me, my 
sight dimmed, and my throat became parched, and thirst 
intolerable, while perspiration poured off n>e profusely. 
I revived myself by rest, and by eating snow, a doubtful 
expedient even in summer. After that I could walk 
only a hundred, and later fifty steps at a time, but 
finally the summit was reached. 

'^ As I had been travelling for over five hours with my 
boots filled with ice-water, kept at the lowest tempera- 
ture by the snow, I found on reaching the summit of the 
mountain, that my left foot had lost all sense of feeling, 
and that there was but little sensation in my right. 
Knowing the danger of perishing by freezing, I kept 
moving steadily, as that was my only safety.'' 

On April 3 the expedition under Lockwood, destined 
for ISTorth Greenland, started from Eort Conger. There 
were thirteen men in the party, with five sledges. 
Lockwood had the sledge Antoinette, with a team of 
eight dogs, — Eitenbenk, the king, a large white dog ; 
Howler, who was the king of the dogs till Ritenbenk 
usurped his position ; two mother-dogs. Black Kooney 
and White Kooney; and Ask-him, who was a puppy 
when purchased in Greenland. Gypsy, Boss, and Major 
completed the number. Eitenbenk, although most 
useful, was a thief whenever an opportunity offered to 
get food; but Howler always gave the alarm by un- 
earthly barking. Howler was a faithful creature, who 



AND OTHER ARCTIC EXPLORERS. 463 

never shirked in his work. Indeed, all the dogs have 
contempt for an idler, and have been known to pounce 
upon one of their number who would not do his full 
share of pulling the load, and kill him. 

After travelling several days, and enduring much in- 
tense cold, with severe snow-storms, so unbearable that 
thej sometimes lay in their fur sleeping-bags for forty- 
five hours, several of the party became disabled, and were 
obliged to return to camp. The bags were sometimes so 
frozen that four men could scarcely open them. The 
wind often blew over the tents, and once the dog-sledge 
with its load of two hundred and fifty pounds was lifted 
bodily from the ground, an.d one of the men, Ealston, 
severely injured by the sledge knocking him several 
yards. They dug holes in snow-banks, and burrowed in 
them, when it was impossible to go forward. Often 
they cut their way over the high, hummocky ice with 
axes. 

May 29 Lockwood, Brainard, and the Eskimo Fred- 
erick Christiansen pushed on alone with the dogs. 
Brainard says in his journal : ^^The dogs not being ac- 
customed to hauling such heavy weights, sit down as 
soon as the runners cut through the crust, and compla- 
cently watch us with a puzzled expression, until we lift 
the sledge bodily and place it on the firm crust." 

Later he writes : ^^ After camping, the dogs were run- 
ning about like ravenous wolves, gnawing at everything, 
and badly chewed and splintered the thermometer-box 
before it could be secured. The ptarmigan lately shot 
was placed on the ridge-pole for safety. A hasty rush 
of feet, and a heavy bod}^ striking violently against the 
tent, caused us to rush out to investigate this commo- 
tion. The ptarmigan was missing. A few feathers in 



464 GENERAL A, W. G RE ELY 

his bloody jaws marked the king-dog, Eitenbenk, as the 
thief, notwithstanding his blank look of innocence.'^ 

At another time, ^^ As I awoke/^ says Lockwood, "a 
small piece of pemmican (our only remaining dog-food) 
was slowly but surely moving out of the tent. The 
plienomenon astonished me ; and rubbing my eyes, I 
looked more carefully, and saw Eitenbenk's head with- 
out his body, and found that his teeth fixed in one 
corner of the sack, was the motive power. His eyes 
were fixed steadily on me ; but head, eyes, and teeth van- 
ished as I looked. He had burrowed a hole through the 
snow, and had inserted his head just far enough into the 
tent to Iciy hold of a corner of the sack. The. whole 
pack are ravenous, and eat anything and everything, 
which means substantially nothing in this case." 

The snow was now so deep, up to their thighs, and 
the ice so rough, that the use of the axe was constant. 
In ten hours, however, they made sixteen miles. 

May 13, after a severe storm lasting for four days, 
they reached an island, which Greely afterwards appro- 
priately named Lockwood Island, the highest point 
(thus far, 1893) ever reached by man. The land to the 
rear towered up four thousand feet. 

Several snow buntings were flying about, and there 
were traces of the hare, lemming, and fox. They ascended 
the summit of the cape on Lockwood Island, about two 
thousand six hundred to three thousand feet above the 
level of the sea. 

"We reached the top," says Lockwood, "at 3.45 p.m.^ 
and unfurled the American flag [Mrs. Greely had made 
one for the expedition] to the breeze in latitude 83° 24! N. 
The summit is a small plateau, narrow but extending 
back to the south to broken, snow-covered heights. . . . 



AND OTHER ARCTIC EXPLORERS. 465 

The horizon beyond, on the land side, was concealed by 
numberless snow-covered mountains, one profile over- 
lapping another, and all so merged together, on account 
of their universal covering of snow, that it was impos- 
sible to detect the topography of the region/' A cape 
of land in the distance was called Cape Washington. 

For sixty miles they could look towards the Pole, witli 
not a trace of land in sight : the ice appeared to be 
rubble. It is probable that there is much open water 
beyond, and, as Greely says, '' its main ice moves the 
entire winter.'' 

" The north polar land is, I believe, of limited extent," 
says Greely, " and its shores, or the edges of its glaciers, 
are washed by a sea, which, from its size and consequent 
high temperature, its ceaseless tides and stray currents, 
can never be entirely ice-clad. ISTordenskiold believes 
in the open sea, convinced by the polar pack setting 
northward from Mussel Bay in 1872. Nares even would 
seem to be uncertain on this point, else he never would 
have equipped Commander Markham with the heavy 
boats hauled by his party in 1876. . . . That the Teg- 
etthoff and Jeannette drifted northward winter as Avell 
as summer is confirmatory evidence of an ^^ open polar 
sea." Greely does not believe in a ^^ navigable polar 
sea," and thinks " the water-space to the northward can 
only be entered in extremely favorable years by the 
Spitzbergen route." 

On May 16 Lockwood and his party turned towards 
Conger, which they reached June 1, after an absence of 
sixty days. They had travelled over a thousand and sev- 
enty statute miles, the outward rate two and one-tenth 
miles per liour, and the homeward two and three-tenths 
miles per hour. 



466 GENERAL A. W. GREELY 

^^ This sledge-trip," sajs Greely, ^^must stand as one 
of tlie greatest in Arctic history, considering not only 
the high latitude and tlie low temperature in whicli it 
was made, but also the length of the journey, and tlie 
results flowing therefrom. . . . His (Lockwood's) dis- 
coveries extended to a point ninety -five miles along the 
JSTorth Greenland coast beyond the farthest ever seen by 
his predecessors, to which should be added about thirty 
miles of coast-line between Gapes May and Britannia not 
visible to Lieutenant Beaumont [a point near Cape May 
was Beaumont's farthest when he was turned back by 
the death of his men by scurvy]. 

'^ The results of Lockwood's journey, then, consist not 
in the mere honor of displaying the Stars and Stripes 
four miles nearer the geographical pole than the flag of 
any other nation, but in adding one hundred and twenty- 
five miles of coast-line (not including several hundred 
miles of inland fjords) to Greenland, and in extending 
the mainland over a degree of latitude from Cape May 
northward to Cape Washington." 

Besides this honor to our flag and nation, an honor 
which England had held for nearly three centuries, 
young Lockwood traversed Grinnell Land from east to 
west, as well as the interior, and covered by his labors, 
as Greely says in his official report to the government, 
'' from Cape Washington, 38^ W, to Arthur Land, 83^ 
W. above the eightieth parallel, one-eighth of the circle 
of the globe. ... If his tragic fate awakened the sym- 
pathy of the world, none the less should his successful 
work receive recognition. He unfortunately did not 
return for merited promotion." 

Fearless of danger, persevering in the ,p^reatest difficul- 
ties, as modest as he was courageous, the name of 



AND OTHER ARCTIC EXPLORERS. 467 

Lieutenant Lockwood will always be honored and loved. 
With him was associated the self-denying, nianl}^ Brain- 
ard, but for whose energy and aid the Greely expedition 
might have left only its starvation record. 

The summer of 1882 passed away, and the party 
looked in vain for a relief ship to bring provisions and 
to cheer their hearts with messages from home. A 
relief ship had been sent, but of course they did not 
know it. 

In 1882 Congress appropriated thirty-three thousand 
dollars to send a ship to Greely. The Neptune was 
chartered, which was to reach Lady Franklin Bay if 
possible, and if not, to leave two caches, of two hundred 
and fifty rations each, at certain points. Besides these 
rations, the Neptune carried two thousand pounds 
of canned meats, two thousand five hundred pounds of 
canned fruits and vegetables, six tons of seal meat, three 
hundred pounds extract of coffee, and other provisions. 

Mr. William M. Beebe, private secretary of the chief 
signal officer, was sent in charge of provisions, and 
William Sopp was the master of the ship. Six times th3 
Neptune tried to pass through the ice in Kane Sea above 
Smith Sound, with the hope of reaching Greely, but 
each time she was baffled by the ice. Finally the two 
caches of rations were left at Cape Sabine, and at the 
north end of Littleton Island, and she returned to the 
United States. 

Commander W. S. Schley, in his rescue of Greely, 
pertinently says, '^ For some unaccountable reason, the 
miscellaneous provisions Beebe was ordered to bring back 
in the event of failing to reach Lady Franklin Bay, and 
which he actually did bring back, to be stored at St. 
Johns, from which place they were carried up next 



468 GENERAL A. W, GREELY 

summer^ to be sunk in the Proteus. They would have 
kept better in the ice upon the rocks at Sabine.'^ 

The acting signal officer. Lieutenant L. V. Caziarc, in 
the absence of General Hazen, had given orders '^ You 
will return the vessel and the remainder of the stores to 
Saint Johns." Had they been left at Sabine, there would 
probably have been no Greely tragedy to arouse the 
sympathies of the world. 

All summer long the men looked and waited for the 
ship. Lockwood writes in his journal : " I find myself 
constantly reading over old letters brought with me, and 
received at St. Johns, though read before again and 
again. The effect is depressing, bringing too strongly 
into view home and the dear ones there. I am oppressed 
with enriui and low spirits, and can't shake off this feel- 
ing, partly induced by the cruel disappointment of no 

Later he wrote : '' Have been reading of Kane and 
his travels. He is my beau ideal of an Arctic traveller. 
How pitiful that so bold a spirit was incased in so fee- 
ble a frame ! Why is nature inconsistent ? '^ 

Again he wrote : " The life we are now leading is 
somewhat similar to that of a prisoner in the Bastile : 
no amusements, no recreations, no event to wreck the 
monotony or dispel ennui. I take a long walk every 
day along shore' to North Valley with that view, study 
French a little, or do some tailoring, now doubly neces- 
sary, as our supply of clothing is getting low. ... I 
must go on another sledge-journey to dispel this gloom." 

The men amused themselves with their efforts to rear 
the four young musk-oxen, which had been taken alive 
when the older ones were shot. Three of the dogs nearly 
killed " John Henry/' the youngest of the calves 5 and 



AND OTHER ABC TIC EXPLORERS, 469 

the others, though tame and most affectionate, being 
unused to the new and strange conditions, soon died. 

" Tame foxes and tame owls," wrote Lockwood, " have 
also been given up. The former bit their keepers, the 
latter ate each other up." 

*^ Xhe tame fox, Eeuben," wrote Greely in his journal, 
^* after running away, has amused himself for a long 
time by catching supplies of extra meat. He was out 
once near the dogs, and a one-month puppy coming up, 
the fox caught him by the nose and sent him away 
yelping. He seemed lately to have but little fear of 
the dogs." 

Greely finally gave up looking for the relief ship in 
1882, and wrote in his journal, Aug. 25 : " Artificial 
light will soon be needed. I have quite given up the 
ship, as indeed have most of the men. I hope against 
hope, and defer going on an allowance of our remain- 
ing stock of vegetables until Sept. 1. We have enough 
of them, but in the matter of vegetables we must live 
much more simply than the past year." 

The second Arctic winter was not passed so happily 
as the first. Lieutenant Greely interested the men 
by scientific and historical lectures, or talks regarding 
the battles of the Civil War, while others spoke on 
astronomy or other matters with which they were most 
familiar. 

The spring of 1883 was most welcome, though Greely 
notes in his journal: ^-Perfect ease of mind cannot 
come until a ship is again seen." 

The dogs had been cared for as well as possible, as 
North Greenland was to be again explored, and the jour- 
ney was long and hazardous. They were not fed as well 
as Greely wished; for he had no food but ^^ pork, beef, 



470 GENERAL A. W. GEEELY 

and fish (all salt). Their food/' he says^ ^^has always 
been thoroughly soaked and freshened, and, what I con- 
sider an important point, always fed to them in an un- 
frozen and generally warm condition. Hard bread has 
been given to as many as would eat it, Avhich includes 
the puppies raised here, and one or two of the old dogs. 
Most of the Greenland dogs will not touch bread even 
when hungry.'' 

Lockwood and others, with twenty dogs, started on 
another Greenland journey, March 27, but returned in a 
few days, disappointed, as they were prevented from 
going forward at Beach Horn Cliffs, by a great body of 
open waiter, several miles wide. 

Lockv/ood then started on his month's trip across Grin- 
nell Land, discovering and naming Greely Fjord between 
sixty and eighty miles long, and fifteen miles wide, and 
the two bays at its head, after Greely's daughters, 
Adola and Antoinette. "IS-o such word as ^failed' to 
write this time," says Lockwood, " I am thankful to say ; 
but the happy reflection is mine that I accomplislied 
more than any one expected, and more than I niyself 
dared hope — the discovery of the western sea, and 
nence the western coast line of Grinnell Land." The 
journey was laborious. Some of the dogs had to be 
sliot to provide food for their co-workers. One dog, 
Disco King, drew his load till completely exhausted, 
and died with Fort Conger in sight, being unable to 
crawl thither after being released from the harness. 

As the summer of 1883 waned, everybody looked 
eagerly for the expected relief ship. There could, be 
little doubt, this time, as on the previous year. Yet 
Greely wisely made provision for his retreat southward^ 
in case the ship did not come. 



AND OTHER ARCTIC EXPLORERS. 471 

Jane^ July, and August passed^ and in v^ain they strained 
their eyes for the coming ship. Now they thought they 
saw the smoke of a vessel sailing up the icy passage, but 
hope always gave way to disappointment. It almost 
seemed as though America had forgotten her explorers. 
They could not know that the aid intended for them 
was in the bottom of the sea. 

Greely, with a foresight which seemed almost pro- 
phetic, had left explicit directions for the relief ships. 
If the vessels could not reach Fort Conger in Discovery 
Bay, they were to land provisions for forty men for 
fifteen months at the farthest point possible on the east 
coast of Grinnell Land, and also at Littleton Island, and 
" establish a winter station at Polaris winter quarters, 
Lifeboat Cave, when their main duty would be to keep 
their telescopes on Cape Sabine, and to the land north- 
ward/^ 

Two vessels, the Proteus, under Lieutenant E. A. Gar- 
lington of the 7th U. S. Cavalry, the same vessel in 
which the Greely party had sailed in 1881, and the 
Yantic under Commander Frank Wildes of the U. S. 
Navy, sailed from St. Johns, Newfoundland, June 21, 
1883, on their returning expedition. The Proteus had a 
fair passage through the ice of Melville Bay, touched at 
south-east Cary Island, and examined the Nares cache of 
1800 rations, left a record at Pandora Harbor on the 
east side of Smith Sound, and being met by the ice pack, 
anchored in Payer Harbor on the west coast of Smith 
Sound. She remained at Cape Sabine four hours and a 
half, but did not leave provisions (which would have 
saved so much starvation later on) through conflicting 
directions from officials, an unsigned memorandum 
ordering that provisions should be left on the way north, 



472 GENERAL A. W. GliEELY 

and a verbal statement from the chief signal officer, that 
this memorandum " was no part of his orders.'' 

Garlington was to examine caches, and replace any 
damaged articles of food. He examined the Beebe cache 
left by the steamer Neptune, but not the Nares cache 
on Stalknecht Island, a half mile away, which he 
said was " in a damaged condition,'' and which, unfortu- 
nately, he did not replace. 

The next day, while near Cape Albert on the west 
coast of Kane Sea, above Smith Sound, the Proteus was 
crushed by ice seven feet thick, and went down on the 
evening of July 23. Some of tlie provisions were thrown 
overboard ; but in the hurry, a third of these were lost 
by falling too near the ship. The crew were uncontrol- 
lable, and pillaged for themselves. 

One of the whale-boats was loaded with provisions, 
estimated at five hundred rations, and taken by Lieutenant 
Colwell of the navy to a point four miles west of Cape 
Sabine, known as the " Wreck-camp cache." Greely 
found only one hundred rations of meat when his men 
were starving, and was greatly disappointed. 

The stores of the Proteus being lost, her men could not 
winter at Lifeboat Cave, unless the Yantic, which was 
a relieving boat to the Proteus, and not fitted for passing 
through the ice, could be reached, and food obtained. 

By a series of the most unfortunate misunderstand- 
ings, the two commanders, Garlington and Wildes, failed 
to reach each other, one always having left a certain 
specified point agreed upon when the other arrived. 

If the Yantic reached Littleton Island, as she had 
been instructed, Garlington would remain for the winter 
at Lifeboat Cave, close by. He thought she would not 
come from the condition of the ice. She did come six 



AND OTHER ARCTIC EXPLORERS. 473 

days after his departure, and not finding Garlington, her 
provisions were not left, and she started to seek him and 
his men. Had her provisions been cached at Littleton 
Island, and a party of volunteers left with them, the 
horrors of the next winter might have been avoided. 
As Garlington had with him in his boats forty days' 
rations for fifteen men, the provisions of the Yantic 
could easily have been spared. 

Lieutenant Col well, after a perilous boat journey across 
Melville Bay, reached Disko, eight hundred miles, with 
his exhausted party. They as well as Garlington and 
the crew were rescued by the Yantic, and brought to St. 
Johns, Newfoundland. 

The whole country was saddened at the failure to help 
Greely. The question on every side was, ^^ What can 
be done for his relief ? " Of fifty thousand rations taken 
up to or beyond Littleton Island by the steamers Nep- 
tune, Yantic^ and Proteus, "only about one thousand 
were left in that vicinity, the remainder being returned 
to the United States, or sunk with the Proteus." 

In the letter left by Garlington at Cape Sabine, for 
Greely, he had assured the latter that " everything 
within the power of man will be done to rescue the brave 
men at Fort Conger from their perilous position." How- 
ever, when the Yantic returned about the middle of Sep- 
tember, it was deemed inexpedient to send any other 
relief ship that fall. The result of that decision was 
pitiful in the extreme. Of course another vessel might 
not have reached the sufferers ; though Greely, Melville, 
and some others, believed relief was practicable in 
the fall of 1883. " Had a stout sealer," says Greely, 
^^and there were many available — left St. Johns, under 
a competent officer, within ten days after the return of 



474 GENERAL A. W, GREELY 

the Yantic, the entire Lady Franklin Bay Expedition, in 
my opinion, would have returned." 

Meantime, what had become of Lieutenant Greely and 
his brave men, waiting two whole years for the prom- 
ised ships ? He well says in his ^' Three Years of Arc- 
tic Service " : '^ My journal shows that I looked forward 
to privation, partial starvation, and possible death for 
a few of the weakest, but I expected no such thing as 
an abandonment to our fate." 

When the 8th of August came, and no ship had been 
seen, the Greely party of twenty-five men, according to 
previous instructions, started on their retreat toward 
the south, in four boats, the steam yacht Lady Greely, 
the whale-boat Narwhal, English ice-boat Beaumont, 
the English boat, Valorous, with a small boat for special 
use. 

The poor dogs, to whom all were greatly attached, were 
left behind, as they could not well be killed ; for if the 
party should be obliged to return to Eort Conger, their 
help would be needed. Several barrels of seal blubber, 
fresh beef, and bread, were opened, so that they could live 
for some months before starvation came. A pitiful voy- 
age lay before their masters — and probably a pitiful 
death for them. 

The journey from the first was a most dangerous one. 
Ice blocked their way, storms assailed them, and heavy 
fogs prevented their progress. 

"As the midnight sun," says Greely, "struggled 
through the distorted masses of angry clouds, we turned 
our prows into Kennedy Channel — to the southward, 
and, we hoped, to safety. . . . 

"And so we turned homeward, knoAving we had the 
courage to face the blinding gale, the heavy floes, the 



AND OTHER ARCTIC EXPLORERS. 475 

grinding pack, the countless other dangers which environ 
the Arctic navigator ; and having also, though we knew 
it not, heart and courage to encounter uncomplainingly, 
on barren crags, the hardships and horrors of an Arctic 
winter, with scant food, shelter, and clothing, with neither 
fire, light, nor warmth, and to face undauntedly intense 
cold and bitter frost, disaster and slow starvation, insan- 
ity and death." Snow fell to the depth of several inches 
in these early August days. Now the men cut their way 
with axes through the solid ice. '' Four hours' cutting, 
charging, rolling, etc., worked wonders," says Greely in 
his journal, "and, as the result of our exhaustive labors, 
the launch was got to open water." 

Now they passed through the middle of an immense ice- 
berg, it having split so that there was a passage scarcely 
a dozen feet wide and a hundred yards long, while the 
ice rose above them on either side fifty feet high. 

Sometimes the boats were caught between the great 
moving pack of ice, and the ice-foot, ten feet high, along 
the shore. At Cape Hawks they stopped to obtain the 
food from the English cache. The bread, which was in 
casks, was covered with green, slimy mould, and would 
have been thrown away except for the possible privations 
in the future. The barrels and casks were broken up to 
be used for steam on the launch, as they had little fuel 
left. 

Aug. 26, the new ice having now become three inches 
thick from the severity of the weather, the Lady Greely 
launch was held fast in the ice. After being beset 
fifteen days, during which time she drifted twenty- 
two miles to the southward, she was abandoned, and the 
Greely party started on the ice w^ith their sledges. 
Greely and thirteeen others dragged the ice-boat Valor- 



476 GENERAL A. W. GREELY 

ous with six hundred pounds other weighty Lieutenant 
Kislingbury and five men another sledge, and seven hun- 
dred pounds, and Sergeant Jewell with three men, 
another. One sledge broke down and had to be 
abandoned. 

They camped on afioe in a severe snow-storm. Some- 
times they fancied they saw smoke rising, or heard a 
dog bark, but the faint hope soon died out. They had 
journeyed over four hundred miles, and the prospects 
were not brightening. Darkness was coming on. The 
floe on which they were camping was drifting away 
from the shore which they were endeavoring to reach. 
Between them and the distant shore the waves were so 
high that no small boats could live in them. 

The thoughts of the men turned towards home. 
Lockwood wrote in his journal : " I wonder what they 
are doing at home. How often I think of the dear ones 
there. The dangers and the uncertainties ahead of us 
are not alleviated by the thought of the concern felt on 
my account by those at home. Most of us, I think, 
have given up the idea of getting home this fall. I 
dread another winter in this country more than I do 
anything else. ... 

" The outlook at present is rather gloomy. However, 
if there is help at Sabine, we are all right. Indeed, if 
there is help at Littleton Island, we ought not to despair 
of reaching it, working as we are for our lives." 

Later he writes: ^^G-od knows what the end of all 
this will be. I see nothing but starvation and death. 
The spirits of the party, however, are remarkably good." 

Perhaps it was well that they did not then know that 
there was help neither at Sabine nor Littleton Island, 
but that it was being carried safely back to St. Johns 
in the Yantic. 



AND OTHER ARCTIC EXPLORERS. 477 

Finally, Sept. 29, after five hundred miles of travel 
by boat and sledge, they reached a point a few miles 
below Cape Sabine, which Greely called Eskimo Point, 
because in former years Eskimos had lived there. 

As it was impossible to cross Smith Sound to Little- 
ton Island by reason of the high tide and thick ice, it 
was decided to build winter huts of stone, the roofs 
covered with moss, and four inches of moss for the floor, 
which they gathered under the snow. 

Lockwood wrote in his journal : ^* We find it very severe 
work building with these rocks. We are all weak, and 
the rocks are granite, very heavy, and not easily obtain- 
able. . . . We have now three chances for our lives ; 
First, finding American cache sufficient at Sabine or at 
Isabella; second, of crossing the straits when our pres- 
ent rations are gone ; third, of shooting sufficient seal 
and walrus near by here to last during the winter. Our 
situation is certainly alarming in the extreme. ... A 
miserable existence, only preferable to death." 

Greely wrote in his journal: "My hands are bruised, 
bleeding, and swollen, joints stiff and sore, clothing 
badly torn, hand and~ foot gear full of holes, and my 
back so lame I cannot stand erect. The work has taxed 
to the utmost limit my physical powers, already worn 
by mental anxiety and responsibility. All the officers 
have worked with, the same assiduity and constancy." 

" Oct. 7. Mrs. Greely's birthday ; a sorry day for 
her, and a hard day for me, to reflect on the position of 
my wife and children should this expedition perish as 
did Franklin's. However, I hope in faith that we shall 
succeed in returning. We will at least place our records 
where our work will live after us." 

These were placed under a cairn on Stalknecht Island. 



<t78 GENERAL A W. GREELY 

Sergeant Rice and Eskimo Jens were sent to Sabine, 
and returned with the letter left there by Garlington, 
telling of the wreck of the Proteus, and the efforts 
that would be made for the rescue of the party. Rice 
found the three caches of provisions, the English, the 
Beebe of 1882 from the Keptune, and the wreck-cache 
of the Proteus. As Greely could not move these from 
Sabine, he decided to cross thither by sledges and 
" await the promised help/^ as he says. 

" I am fully aware of the very dangerous situation we 
are now in/' writes Greely in his journal, ^^and foresee 
a winter of starvation, suffering, and probably death for 
some. The question is, did the Yantic reach Littleton 
Island ? if so, we are safe. Our fuel is so scanty that 
we are in danger of perishing for want of that alone.^' 

The Yantic, as we now know, did reach Littleton 
Island, but left no provisions for the starving party. 

'^ We now had four boats,'' says Greel}^., /^and, al- 
though the sun was about leaving us for the winter, 
we could yet travel southward, there being open water 
visible at Cape Isabella. Had I been plainly told that 
we must now depend upon ourselves, that trouble and 
lack of discipline prevailed among the Proteus's crew, 
that the Yantic was a fair-weather ship, and that its 
commander and lieutenant were acting independently 
of each other, I should certainly have turned my back 
to Cape Sabine and starvation, to face a possible death 
on the perilous voyage along shore to the southward." 

As most of the party felt sure that the Yantic must 
have left provisions at Cape Isabella, Sergeant Rice and 
Eskimo Jens were sent tliither; but they returned dis- 
appointed, finding only the English cache of one hundred 
and forty pounds of meat. 



AXD OTHER ARCTIC EXPLORERS. 4Y9 

The party constructed winter quarters at Sabine, call- 
ing the place Gamp Clay, after Henry Clay who went 
with them in 1881, and returned on the Proteus. 

The rock walls of the house were about two feet thick 
and three feet high, covered with the whale-boat turned 
bottom side upward. ^^ Under that boat/' says Greely's 
journal, '^ was tlie only place in which a man could even 
get on his knees and hold himself erect. Sitting on our 
bags, the heads of the tall men reached the roof. . . . 
The scarcity of rocks prevented our building higher 
walls, and snow-blocks were at first insufficient to build 
snow-huts.'^ 

The caches were now to be examined. '^ God only 
knows," says Greely, " what we shall do if it (the 
English cache) is spoiled; this hut will be our grave; 
but, until the worst comes, we shall never cease to hope 
for the best.'' Garlington had reported it damaged, 
though he did not visit it and make good the damaged 
food. 

Greely hoped against hope, that the provisions would 
be eatable. " On bringing it in," he says, "fhe rum and 
alcohol were found to have entirely leaked away or evap- 
orated, the groceries spoiled, and the four hundred and 
fifty pounds of bread and dog-biscuit all mouldy. Sev- 
enty-two pounds of the latter, only a mass of green 
mould, was entirely unserviceable. Dr. Pavy emphati- 
cally declared that these slimy biscuits were not only 
valueless as food, but that their use would be absolutely 
injurious to health, an opinion in which I fully concurred, 
and so ordered them thrown away. However, as I sub- 
sequently learned, the ravenous condition of some of the 
party was such that, despite my positive order and ear- 
nest entreaties, they were all eaten." 



480 GENERAL A. W. GREELY 

Brainard writes in his journal: ^^Wlien this breadj ' 
thoroughly rotten and covered with a green mould, was 
thrown on the ground, the half-famished men sprang to 
it as wild animals would. What, I wonder, will be our 
condition when we undergo a still greater reduction in 
our provisions ? '' 

'^ The canned meat brought in was good,'^ says Greely, 
" but the bacon rancid, though all of it was eaten by us 
later/' But for these English caches, probably no one of 
the party would have been spared. 

In bringing in the Neptune cache, a mile away, sev- 
eral of the men had their feet frozen, Greely among the 
number. 

With scanty supplies, the men now settled down to 
the long, dark winter's waiting. ^^We are now in our 
hut,'' writes Lockwood in his journal, ^^but it is not yet 
finished, and is cold and uncomfortable. Our constant 
talk is about something to eat, and the different dishes 
we have enjoyed, or hope to enjoy on getting back to 
civilization. How often my thoughts turn toward home 
and the dear ones there. We all suppose that Garling- 
ton and party are at Littleton Island, but yet doubts 
will arise as to it. We have found out some scraps of 
news from slips of newspaper wrapped around the 
lemons. Each man had a lemon to-night. We are all 
hungry all the time." 

Among some clothing cached at Sabine, a newspaper 
article was found written by Henry Clay, May 13, 1883, 
from which they inferred that the Jeannette was lost. 
'' Rice read the paper aloud this evening," writes Lock- 
wood, '^ and it has excited a great deal of remark. We 
a-11 think Clay's paper almost prophetic, except, of 
course, our Hying down under the quiet stars to die.' 



AND OTHER ARCTIC EXPLORERS, 481 

The article gives me pain in reflection of the great alarm 
and sorrow felt by my dear father and mother and sisters - 
on my behalf. Should my ambitious hopes be disap- 
pointed, and these lines only meet the eyes of those so 
dear, may they not add to my many faults and failings 
that of ingratitude or want of affection in not more fre- 
quent allusions to them, and my thoughts concerning 
them.'' 

Oct. 26 was the last day of sunlight for one hun- 
dred and ten long days. '^ How to pass this coming 
Arctic winter," writes Greely, ''is a question I cannot 
answer. When they read," he says, '' the wretched 
Eskimo lamp, with its faint glimmer of light, is held 
close to the reader. Some already begrudge the oil for 
this purpose ; but I look on it as more than well spent in 
giving food for our minds, which, turned inward, these 
coming months would inevitably drive us all insane." 

Storms increased; and although the hunters, espe- 
cially Francis Long, sought daily for game, almost none 
was obtained. Lockwood writes: ^^This is miserable; 
we have insufficient supplies of everything. Even the 
blubber will support but one poor light, and that hardly 
for the winter. We must rely on the whale-boat and 
the barrel-staves mostly for fuel, the alcohol being 
almost exhausted. Cold, dampness, darkness, and. hun- 
ger are our portion every day and all day. Here in the 
hut one has to grope around in the darkness to find 
anything laid down." 

Oct. 29 Lockwood writes, even before they had been 
reduced to winter rations : "• Occupied some time this 
morning in scratching like a dog in the place where the 
mouldy dog-biscuits were emptied. Found a few crumbs 
and small pieces, and ate mould and all. . . . Long 



482 GENERAL A. W. GREELY 

and Frederick [Christiansen the Eskimo] went out to 
hunt to-day, but got nothing. . , . We now get about 
one-fourtii what we could eat at a meal, and this limited 
allowance is to be much farther reduced as soon as the 
sledging is done, which is about No\r. 1. 

^^ Oct. 31. To-morrow our reduction of rations com- 
mences. Whether we can live on such a driblet of food 
remains to be seen. We are now constantly hungry, 
and the constant thought and talk run on food, dishes 
of all kinds. ... I have a constant longing for food. 
Anything to fill me up. God ! what a life. A few 
crumbs of hard bread taste delicious. . . . The hunting 
party have a slight increase of rations during their 
absence. I hope to God they have got something. How 
often my thoughts wander homo, and I recall my dear 
father, mother, and the family generally — then comes 
the family dishes of all kinds. ]S"umb fingers, aud want 
of light — I can write no more. . . . No sledging any 
more, excepting Eice's trip, until spring, should we live 
to see it. 

'^ Thursday, Nov. 1. A white fox shot this morning 
by Schneider. We ate the entrails as well as everything 
else of the animal. 

^^ Nov. 3. Breakfast this morning of a few mouthfuls 
of hard bread and a little piece of butter about as large 
as one's finger. I had some mouldy potatoes. . . . 
They are spoiled and mouldy all the w^ay through, but 
anything that fills the stomach is grateful.'' 

How" one laments as he reads these pitiful words, that 
the Neptune and the Yantic should have come home 
laden with stores, which would have saved these fam- 
ished men ! 

^^ Fingers and toes cold nearly all the time ; temper- 



AND OTHER ARCTIC EXPLORERS, 483 

ature here in the house about freezing-point all the time. 
God! this miserable existence cannot be conceived of 
by any one but ourselves. Constant thoughts of home 
and dear ones there. 

" Nov. 9. For dinner we had tea, a spoonful of Eng- 
lish meatj and a handful of hard-bread. Bi-eakfast was 
chocolate, a little piece of butter, and a little bread. 
One is more hungry when he gets through these meals 
than before. . . . Smoke at almost every meal insuffer- 
able. It is blinding^ andJiides everything." 

Early in November it was decided to send Eice, Eli- 
son, Lynn, and Frederick to Cape Isabella for the one 
hundred and forty-four pounds of beef cached there by 
Nares in 1875. They suffered on the way over from 
cold, and on the way back Elison froze his hands and 
feet. " At night their sleeping-bag," says Frederick in 
his journal, " was no more nor less than a sheet of ice. 
I placed one of Elison's hands between my thighs and 
Rice took the other, and in this way we drew the frost 
from his poor frozen limbs. The poor fellow cried all 
night from pain. This was one of the worst nights I ever 
spent in the Arctic." 

Elison was soon helpless, and had to be carried. To 
save his life the meat was abandoned; and after ten 
hours of struggling in the snow and over the hummocky 
ice, they reached their old camp at Eskimo Point. 
Here, to thaw out his limbs, they cut up the English 
ice-boat, which had been left intact for a possible jour- 
ney southward. " When the poor fellow's face, feet, 
and hands commenced to thaw from the artificial heat," 
says Frederick, ^^his sufferings were such that it was 
enough to bring the strongest to tears." 

Rice finally travelled back twenty-five miles to Camp 



484 GENERAL A. W. GREELY 

Clay at SabinCj for assistance, and reached the place 
exhausted, having eaten only a piece of frozen meat on 
the way. 

Lockwood, Brainard, and others at once started to 
their aid. When they reached Eskimo Point, the frozen 
sleeping-bag, in which Frederick, Lynn, and Elison had 
lain for eighteen hours, unable to move, had to be cut 
off them with a hatchet. Elison was nearly dead, and 
when brought back to Camp Clay begged piteously for 
death. 

Greely regards this rescue journey of Lockwood ^^the 
most remarkable in the annals of Arctic sledging." 
" This half-starved party,'' he says in his official report, 
" made a round trip of about forty miles in total dark- 
ness, and over rough and heavy ice, in forty-four hours, 
wdth temperatures ranging from — 19"^ to — 34.5°. The 
remarkable work done by this party appears the more 
astonishing, in that this was their third winter within 
the Arctic circle, that they had been on short rations for 
over two months, and had been utterly inactive for the 
previous ten days. In the most willing manner, without 
a murmur, these men ventured their lives on the mere 
possibility of rescuing a comrade whom they expected 
to find dead.'' 

Elison now received twice as much food as any other 
man, with the hope that his life might be saved. Ko 
one complained, for it was felt that Elison had crippled 
himself in trying to bring meat for the party from Cape 
Isabella. 

The dreadful winter wore on. Lieutenant Greely 
varied the monotony as much as possible by a daily 
lecture on the physical geography of the United States, 
its resources, etc. ; others read various books to the party, 



\ 



AND OTHER ARCTIC EXPLORERS. 485 

or gave personal reminiscences. Nov. 14 Lockwood 
writes in his journal : " Oh ! the dear ones at home, how 
I long to see them. Brainard plants a pole on a neigh- 
boring rock to-day, to attract the attention of any party 
from the other side.'^ They still had hopes that Gar- 
lington might be at Littleton Island, nearly opposite. 

" Nov. 19. . . . Day overcast. Bread reduced now to 
six ounces a day, and meat to four ounces. This is on 
account of increased rations issued Elison. Ate a lot 
of mouldy dog-biscuit to-day. . . . Feel ravenous, and 
could eat anything now in the shape of food. Fill up 
with tea leaves when any are left over. 

^^ Nov. 21. . . . American mineral products discoursed 
on by Lieutenant Greely. . . . What an experience 
is this I am going through. Such an experience is 
enough for one's life. How I long for the time to pass. 

"Nov. 23. . . . Eemarks in the morning on the State 
of Maine, by Lieutenant Greely and others. Conversa- 
tion during the day about dishes of all kinds, and des- 
serts, soups, etc. We never seem to weary of this 
subject. . . . Chewed up the foot of a fox this evening 
raw. It was altogether bone and gristle." 

Nov. 29 was set aside as a day of thanksgiving and 
praise, " in order,'^ says Greely, " that we might act 
in accord with those we have left behind. ... It 
seemed to me then that making this a great and happy 
day would so break in on our wretchedness and misery 
as to give us new courage and determination. . . . To- 
day we have been almost happy, and had almost enough 
to eat. ... It seemed to me that the Psalms of the day 
made a deeper impression than I have ever before 
noted.'' 

The next day, Nov. 30, Lockwood wrote in his journal: 



486 GENERAL A. W. GREELY 

" How often I picture to myself the old, familiar scenes 
of home ! How I long to know that all are well, and 
trust their anxiety for me is not too great. I picture to 
myself where my sisters are living, and the family 
scenes and conversation at the old roof-tree in the 
evening. 

" Dec. 3. Breakfast this morning consisted of choco- 
late and one and one-half ounces butter — no bread, for 
I ate all my bread last night. Many of us eat all our 
bread at night, and many try to save and manipulate 
their dole of food in a dozen ways to make the mite of 
food seem more filling. I have saved from yesterday 
some scraps of seal-skin ; and after Long was through, I 
put the can over the remnants of the fire for a few 
minutes, and the scraps became quite soft. I ate the 
hair and all. The skin has little on it but the hair, the 
blubber and meat being cut oft' as clean as possible. 

'' Dec. 19. We are all very weak, and I feel an apathy 
and cloudiness impossible to shake off. ... I always 
eat my bread regretfully. If I eat it before tea, I re- 
gret that T did not keep it ; and if I wait till tea comes, 
and then eat it, I drink my tea hastily and do not get 
the satisfaction I otherwise would. What a miserable 
life, when a few crumbs of bread weigh so on one's 
mind ! " 

Brainard writes in his journal : " We are all more or 
less unreasonable, and I only wonder that we are not all 
insane. ... If we are not mad, it should be a matter 
of surprise. I wonder if we will survive the horrors of 
this ice-prison.'' 

Still the poor starving men kept up hope. Their 
spirits improved when the sun, after its farthest distance 
from them, began to return Dec. 21. ^^ Thank God," 



AND OTHER ARCTIC EXPLORERS. 487 

exclaims Lockwood in his journal^ '^ now the glorious 
sun commenced to return, and every day gets lighter 
and brings him nearer. It is an augury that we shall 
yet pull through all right. By a great effort I was able 
to save an ounce of bread and two ounces of butter for 
Christmas. I shall make a vigorous effort to abstain 
from eating it before then. Put it in charge of Bierder- 
bick as an additional safeguard. Brainard shot another 
fox last night, a blue one. . . . This makes the twentieth 
fox killed. Louisiana spoken of to-day. I added to it 
by recounting my trip from Baltimore to Texas, and 
then, on return, to New Orleans and up to Cincinnati.'' 

On Christmas Day, the party were in good spirits. 
Brainard replaced the broken distress flag-staff facing 
the Greenland coast, and predicted that Lieutenant 
Garlington would visit them during the full moon in 
January. Alas ! that the prediction did not prove true. 

The fuel had now become so scanty that ropes were 
burned, which made a dense smoke, irritating to the eyes 
and throat. One of Elison's feet had been taken off by 
Dr. Pavy, the surgeon, but he did not know it. 

By Jan. 15 Lieutenant Lockwood had become so weak 
that Greely, in whose sleeping-bag he slept also, was 
obliged to help him to turn over, and support him while 
he ate his scanty breakfast. 

Greely offered him his ration of beef, four ounces, 
which he declined, saying that Greely's need was as 
great as his own. He urged Greely that when the time 
came for crossing to Littleton Island, in the early spring, 
when it was light and the channel frozen, that he be 
left behind, and be sent for later, but to this Greely 
would not for a moment consent. 

Jan. 15 Lieutenant Greely writes : " In consequence 



488 GENERAL A. W. GllEELY 

of the necessity of melting ice hereafter for all our 
water, I was obliged to reduce the quantity of tea, so 
that hereafter we have but half allowance. It comes 
very hard upon many of the men. I am able to stand 
it myselfj and have taken some pulverized ice in a rub- 
ber bag, which I have melted by the heat of my body to 
furnish drinking-water for others. The party are some- 
what depressed by the reduction of water.'^ 

The first death among the starving part^j^ occurred Jan. 
18, that of Sergeant William H. Cross. The body was 
sewed up in sacks and canvas by Brainard and Bierder- 
bick ; and after Lieutenant Greely had read the Episcopal 
burial service, and tried to cheer the men in their de- 
spondency, the corpse was covered by the American flag, 
and six Aveak men dragged it on the English sledge to 
the summit of a hill near by, and buried it in a grave 
fifteen inches deep. Cross would have been forty on the 
day following. It was found that he had saved con- 
siderable bread and butter with which to celebrate his 
birthday. 

On Eeb. 1 Lieutenant Lockwood was so weak that 
Lieutenant Greely issued to him. daily an ounce each 
of bread and meat, as extra food. Two days later, poor 
Lockwood writes : " I am getting stronger very slowly. 
The slight increase in the rations will help me rapidly. 
. . . Jewell fainted to-night, just after coming in from 
outside. 

"Feb. 6. . . . I got up myself to-day, and managed 
to get out of doors without the assistance of Frederick 
[Christiansen, the Eskimo], but fell down in the alleyway 
coming back, and also fell down on getting inside here.^^ 

On Feb. 2 Eice and Jens, tlie Eskimo, started to cross 
Smith Sound to Littleton Island, to bring whatever 



AND OTHER ARCTIC EXPLORERS. 489 

food might be there, and to see Garlington, although 
Greely had little belief that he was there. Much hope 
and prayer went with the brave fellows as they started 
on their journey. Brainard wrote in his journal: "A 
tremulous ^ God bless you ! ' a hearty grasp of the hand, 
and we turned away in tears from those brave souls who 
were daring and enduring so much for us. . . . While 
watching their progress I distinctly heard the hoarse 
grinding of the pack not far away. Of this I said noth- 
ing to my companions, owing to the depressing effect 
such information would have on their minds.'' 

Four days later, to the surprise and bitter disappoint- 
ment of all, Eice and Jens returned, having found open 
water as far as the eye could reach, and no frozen passage 
as they had hoped. The only signs of game were some 
old bear-tracks. 

Lock wood wrote in his journal : "Of course we are 
all very much disappointed ; the party takes a bold front, 
and are not wanting in spirit. ... If our fate is the 
worst, I do not think we shall disgrace the name of 
Americans and of soldiers." 

To keep up the spirits of the men, Greely announced 
that it was more than probable Smith Sound would 
freeze over by March 1. " In such an event," I argued, " we 
could afford to deny ourselves a little, and so I had decided 
to cut down our bread a couple of ounces, so we would 
be able to remain here until March 6. . . . 

"I certainly do not deceive all the party, but perhaps I 
do some. Perhaps my plans may succeed, and this wide 
strait freeze solid, but I cannot now believe it. . . . 
Jewell froze his fingers to-day. 

" Our poor starved bodies have not enough blood and 
vital heat to resist this temperature of — 27.5°. ... I 



490 GENEBAL A. W. GEEELY 

have been obliged to cut off, after to-da}^, Lieutenant 
Lock wood^s extra ration. 

^^Feb. 8, Mercury again frozen, greatly to our delight, 
for a week of this weather would cement securely the 
ice of Smith Sound. 

'^ Feb. 12. . . . Notwithstanding the mercury is frozen, 
the water in the straits still remains open, probably in 
consequence of spring tides. The roaring ice, a dismal, 
fateful sound to us, Avas heard nearly all day.'' 

The same day Lockwood writes : '' Our situation is 
deplorable. ... It will be pitiable if this party after 
fighting short rations, cold, etc., all winter, is doomed to 
die in the spring. Poor Elison, I am afraid, will never 
survive. How often I think of the dear ones at home, 
the Sunday evening reunions, and all the bright and 
happy pictures that present themselves.'' 

Pour days later : '^ I shall be glad when the end comes, 
whenever it is to be. . . . We are all very dirty ; my 
hands and face are actually black in color. All our 
clothes are covered with grease and dirt. ... I do lit- 
tle talking, finding it difficult to raise my voice. I find 
myself pursued by ennui, aimlessness, apathy, and indif- 
ference, produced by hunger, cold, gloom, dirt, and all 
the miseries of this existence. ... I see no chance of 
the straits being closed to the end of the month. To 
my mind we must find game here, or else receive help 
from Littleton Island. It will soon be decided, thank 
God. 

^^ Feb. 18. . . . We are drawing nearer the end of 
our rations. The prospect of getting more is rather dis- 
mal. We are all very hopeful, however." 

March 1, the day previously fixed by Lieutenant 
Greely for crossing Smith Sound came, but he writes : 



AND OTHER ARCTIC EXPLORERS. 491 

*^The straits are wide open, and if we only had sufficient 
strength to remove the boat from the building, we could 
now attempt a passage partly by sledge, and partly by 
boat.'' 

Long and Christiansen travelled seventy miles to find 
game, but returned unsuccessful. Greely sadly writes, 
March 13: ^^The fates seem to be against us — an open 
channel, no game, no food, and apparently no hopes 
from Littleton Island. We have been lured here to our 
destruction. If we were now the strong, active men of 
last autumn, we could cross Smith Sound where there is 
much open water ; but we are a party of twenty-four 
starved men, of whom two cannot walk and a half-dozen 
cannot haul a pound. We have done all we can to strug- 
gle on, but it drives me almost insane to face the future. 
It is not the end that affrights any one, but the road to 
be travelled to reach that goal. To die is easy, very 
easy : it is only hard to strive, to endure, to live." 

They could not get the boat, covered with snow, off 
the roof of the hut ; a little later, they had not the 
strength to clean off the snow even when it commenced 
leaking through. 

March 14, three ptarmigans were killed, the first game 
since early in February. ^^ Beaks, claws, and entrails 
were eaten." 

One week later Greely writes : " It is surprising with 
what calmness we view death, which, strongly as we 
may hope, now seems inevitable. Only game can save 
us. We have talked over the matter calmly and quietly, 
and I have always exhorted the men to die as men, and 
not as dogs." 

Lockwood writes in his journal on the same day, 
March 21 : ^^ The time draws near when our group comes 



492 GENERAL A. W, GREELT 

to an end. We look on it with equanimity, and the 
spirits of the party, with this prospect of a miserable 
death, is certainly wonderful. I am glad as each day 
draws to an end. It puts us nearer the end of this life, 
— whatever that end is to be. How often I tliink of 
those at home, and of what they are doing. Oh, God ! 
That I could be with them for a few hours only. . . . 
The fuel, all except the boat, is about gone — ends with 
to-morrow.'^ 

Lockwood's feet were badly swollen, and his mind 
wandered much of the time, yet as late as March 25, 
he wrote : '' We are all confident now of pulling through.'' 
For the first time in five months a ray of sunlight 
entered the wretched hut. 

They had now given up all hope of crossing the Sound. 
Long and Brainard killed several dovekies, and their 
hopes were strengthened. Long was especially happy as 
he had promised for months to provide Greely with a 
birthday present of food on his fortieth birthday, March 
27, which promise he was thus enabled to keep. 

April 5 the second death occurred, that of Frederick 
Christiansen, to whom all were much attached. He was 
buried beside Cross. 

April 6 Lynn became unconscious at one p.m. and 
died at seven. He asked for water just before dying, but 
they had none to give. He had never recovered from 
the disastrous trip to Isabella for the one hundred and 
forty pounds of meat. 

Near midnight of the same day, April 6, Sergeant Eice 
and Frederick started southwards towards Cape Isabella, 
to bring the meat which they had been obliged to aban- 
don when Elison's hands and feet were frozen. The 
darkness had prevented their going much earlier, and 



AND OTHER ARCTIC EXPLORERS. 493 

Greely feared the results of such a journey. Eice 
begged to be allowed to go on the same rations as the 
rest of the men were receiving, four ounces of meat, and 
four ounces of bread daily. For a few hours previous to 
their departure Eice slept in the same bag with the 
dead body of Lynn, so fully had they become used to 
the presence of the destroyer. 

Through a blinding snow-storm these two men trav- 
elled, and reached the place where the meat was aban- 
doned, about three o^clock in the afternoon of April 9. 
Not a trace of it was to be found. An hour later, on 
their return trip, Eice became too weak to stand. He 
talked of home and friends ; Frederick took off his own 
outer garment and wrapped up the feet of -his dying 
comrade. In the driving snow, in his shirt sleeves on 
the ice, he held Eice in his arms till eight o'clock, when 
the noble and self-denying young lawyer and photogra- 
pher of the expedition passed away. Frederick buried 
his comrade in the snow and ice, and, more dead than 
alive, returned to Camp Clay. 

Meantime the affectionate and heroic Lockwood had 
penned the last words in his journal, April 7: . . . 
" Jewell is much weaker to-day." On April 8 he fell 
fainting in the passage-way. For three days he had been 
receiving four ounces of raw dovekies daily, but it was 
of no avail. April 9 his mind wandered, and he became 
unconscious at four in the morning. At four twenty in 
the afternoon he died peacefully. 

Brainard writes : " This will be a sad and unexpected 
blow to his family, who evidently idolized him. Bier- 
derbick and myself straightened his limbs and prepared 
his remains for burial. It was the saddest duty that I 
have ever yet been called upon to perform." 



494 GENERAL A. W. GEEELY 

" He was a gallant oiRcer," writes Greely, " a brave, 
true and loyal man. Christian charity, manliness, and 
gentleness were the salient points of his character. He 
always did his best; and that best will give him a name 
in Arctic history as long as courage, perseverance, and 
success shall seem worthy of man's praise and am- 
bition." 

Jewell, to whom four ounces of extra food were given 
daily, being fed by the hands of Greely, became un- 
conscious in his arms, and died without a struggle, 
April 12. He and Lockwood were buried beside the 
others on Cemetery Eidge. 

Greely was now so weak that his death was expected, 
and Lieutenant Kislingbury was to take his place in 
that event. 

April 11 Brainard fell breathless in the passage-way, 
calling out, " A bear, a bear ! " The animal was killed 
by Long and Jens, the Eskimo. He weighed four 
hundred pounds. No words could express the joy of the 
starving men. The following day Long shot a seal 
weighing sixty pounds. 

Brainard, before this, saved the lives of the party by 
gathering shrimps, which are so small that it takes 
1300 to make a gill. From April 8 to 30 he brought in 
no less than four hundred and fifty pounds. On May 3, 
however, the last bread was gone, and but nine days' 
meat remained. 

Poor Jens Edward, the Eskimo, was drowned by the 
overturning of his kayak, April 29, while endeavoring 
to reach a seal. Their only reliable rifle was also lost in 
this boat. 

It was hourly expected that Greely would pass away. 

Brainard writes : " This life is growing almost un- 



AND OTHER ARCTIC EXPLORERS, 495 

bearable — it is horrible ! I am afraid that we will yet 
all go mad. In my case the thoughts of home, a bright 
future, the many enjoyments of life, and a feeling of 
responsibility for the poor fellows, who, to a certain 
extent, look to me to provide them with food, do more 
to inspire me to work and to fight the end than anything 
else." 

Thursday, May 1, Brainard says: ^^ Lieutenant Kis- 
lingbury's mind is almost completely gone. Poor fel- 
low ! it is only a few days ago that he spoke so hopefully 
of the future, and the happiness he anticipated in meet- 
ing his young son on his return. Yesterday I saw him 
lying on the small sledge outside, weeping like a child ; 
turning to me he said with a half-smothered groan, ^It 
is hopeless ; I cannot fight this starvation longer : I am 
doomed to die here ! ^ " 

May 20 Private Ellis was buried ; the first death 
from starvation in six weeks. The men were so weak 
that they could scarcely drag the body to Cemetery 
Eidge. 

Ralston died three days later, at one a.m. Greely 
remained in the sleeping-bag, with the body, till about 
five A.M., " chilled through by contact with the dead." 

As the hut had become unfit to live in from the melt- 
ing snow, which wet the inmates constantly, the party 
moved to a tent some three hundred yards away. 

Whisler died at noon, May 24. 

Sergeant Israel, the bright young astronomer from 
Ann Arbor University, fed for several days by Greely, 
died May 27. He was beloved by all. 

Seal-skin thongs, which had been used in lashing 
together the sledge, now began to be used for stews. " It 
is astonishing to me/' says Greely in his journal, ^^how 
the party holds out." 



496 GENERAL A. W. GEE ELY 

The last day of May brought a heavy snow-storm 
which lasted twenty-four hours. '' If/^ writes Brainard, 
" possessing the gift of divining the future, I should dis- 
cover that I had yet another month of this terrible ex- 
istence before me, I would at once end everything. . . . 
In my daily journeyings across Cemetery Eidge, it was 
but natural at first that my reflections should be sad and 
gloomy. . . . Tlie brass buttons on Lieutenant Lock- 
wood's blouse, scoured bright by the flying gravel, pro- 
truded through the scanty covering of earth which our 
depleted strength barely enabled us to place over him. . . . 
Later on our wretched condition served to counteract 
these feelings; and I can now pass and repass the place 
without emotion, and almost with indifference.'' 

Lieutenant Kislingbury died Sunday, June 1, 1884, at 
three p.m. His last act was to sing the Doxology, in a 
weak^ but clear voice : ^^ Praise God from whom all bless- 
ings flow." 

Corporal Salor died June 3, at three a.m. '' We had 
not strength enough to bury Salor, so he was put out of 
sight in the ice-foot," notes Greely in his journal. 

June 6 Greely crawled up the rocks, and gathered a 
pint of tripe de roche, 

June 6 Private Henry was shot at two p.m. by order 
of Greely, for stealing provisions, which meant death 
to all if persisted in. Bender died at five forty-five p.m., 
and Dr. Pavy at six. The rest now lived on their seal- 
skin gloves, boots, sleeping-bags, and lichens. The last 
of the seal-skin was divided June 18. 

Gardiner died June 12, about five p.m. The doctor 
predicted that he would die in April, but his intense 
desire to see- his wife and mother seemed to keep him 
alive. To the last (his skeleton fingers clutching the 



ANB OTHER ARCTIC EXPLORERS, 497 

picture even after death) he held in his hands an ambro- 
type of his wife and mother, looking at ib continually, 
and speaking to it. His last words were, "• Mother ! 
Wife ! '' "• He was more religious,'^ says Greely, '' than 
perhaps any other one in the party : although allowed 
only eight pounds of baggage on the retreat, he denied 
himself to bring with him his Bible, our only one, though 
I had a prayer-book/' 

Schneider begged for opium pills with which to end 
his sufferings on June 16, but nobody would give them 
to him. He died at six p.m., June 18. He was not 
buried. 

June 20 Greely's diary reads : " Six years ago to-day 
I was married, and three years ago I left my wife for 
this expedition. What a contrast ! When will this life 
in death end ? " 

His journal ends the next day, June 21: "ConnelPs 
legs paralyzed from knee down. Bierderbick suffering 
terribly from rheumatism. Buchanan Strait open this 
noon a long way up the coast.'' 

Brainard entered the last words in his journal on 
Thursday, June 21 : " Since day before yesterday Eli- 
son has transferred his food to his mouth by a spoon 
which is tied to the stump of his frozen arm." 

June 22, Sunday, all were exhausted. Greely tried to 
read a little from the prayer-book, but the high wind 
and lack of food made it too exhausting. Connell was 
scarcely conscious, and all had resigned themselves to 
despair. A storm had been raging, and the tent was 
nearly blown down, pinning some of the men under it. 
The end was now only a question of a few hours at 
most. 

Meantime another expedition had been fitted out by 



498 GENERAL A. W. GREELY 

the United States for the rescue of Greely. Three 
vessels were sent, the Thetis, -Bear, and Alert, — the last 
the flag-ship of Nares, the generous gift of the English 
government tendered by the Queen to America, — under 
Commander Winfield J. Schley, a brave and experienced 
naval officer. The ships were provisioned for one hun- 
dred and fifteen men for two years. 

Late in April of 1884 the vessels steamed out of New 
York harbor, watched by anxious and sympathetic 
hearts. Both the Thetis and Bear were Dundee whalers, 
built for forcing the ice, which they did through Melville 
Bay, sometimes by a single blow splitting a pan of ice 
two hundred yards across. The Alert was said to be the 
strongest modern ship afloat. 

When Littleton Island was reached and searched, it 
was evident that Greely had not been there. It was 
decided to run over to Cape Sabine, to see if any traces 
of the party could be found. They sailed away Sunday, 
June 22, at three p.m., the very day on which the Greely 
party seemed to have lost all hope. The ships were made 
fast to the ice just off Brevoort Island, two miles south 
of Sabine, and parties were sent in various directions. 
Soon cheers were heard, for some of the men had found 
the Greely records on Stalknecht Island. These papers 
had been left Oct. 21, eight months before, and the 
party then had rations for forty days. It seemed cer- 
tain that all had long ere this perished. 

With all possible haste the cutter started for Camp 
Clay. On the top of a ridge they saw the figure of a 
man. Greely had heard the whistle of the Thetis at mid- 
night; and Brainard and Long had crawled out of the 
tent to see if any vessel was in sight, but they returned 
disappointed. Long went out a second time to set up 



AND OTHER ARCTIC EXPLORERS, 499 

the distress flag which had blown down. The cox- 
swain in the cutter waved a flag. The man on the 
ridge had seen it, for he waved one in return. Then he 
came slowly down the ridge, falling twice as he came. 

Lieutenant Colwell called out, '' Who all are there 
left?" 

'' Seven left.'' 

^^ Where are they? '' 

'' In the tent, over the hill — the tent is down.'' 

^- Is Mr. Greely alive ? " 

^' Yes, Greely's alive." 

'' Any other officers ? " 

^•No." 

" Who are you ? " ' 

" Long." 

" He was a ghastly sight," says Commander Schley, in 
his "Eescue of Greely." " His cheeks were hollow, his 
eyes wild, his hair and beard long and matted. His 
army blouse, covering several thicknesses of shirts and 
jackets, was ragged and dirty, [They had not changed 
their clothing nor bathed for over eleven months.] He 
wore a little fur cap and rough moccasins of untanned 
leather tied around the leg. As he spoke, his utterance 
was thick and mumbling." 

Meanwhile one of the relief party, crying like a child, 
was trying to roll away the stones which held down the 
flapping tent cloth. Colwell cut a slit in the teut and 
looked in. 

" It was a sight of horror," says Schley. " On one 
side, close to the opening, with his head towards the out- 
side, lay what was apparently a dead man. His jaw had 
dropped, his eyes were open, but fixed and glassy, his 
limbs were motionless. On the opposite side was a poor 



600 GENERAL A. W. GREELY 

fellow, alive to be sure, but without hands or feet, and 
with a spoon tied to the stump of his right arm. Two 
others, seated on the ground, in the middle, had just got 
down a rubber bottle that hung on the tent-pole, and 
were pouring from it into a tin can. Directly opposite, 
on his hands and knees, was a dark man with a long 
matted beard, in a dirty and tattered dressing-gown, with 
a little red skull cap on his head, and brilliant, staring 
eyes. As Col well appeared, he raised himself a little, and 
put on a pair of eye-glasses.^' 

" Who are you ? '^ asked Colwell. 

The man made no answer, staring at him vacantly. 

" Who are you ? '^ again. 

One of the men spoke up : " That's the Major — Major 
Greely." 

Colwell crawled in and took him by the hand, saying, 
" Greely, is this you ? '' 

'' Yes," said Greely in a faint, broken voice, hesitat- 
ing and shuffling with his words ; ^^ Yes, — seven of us 
left — here we are — dying — like men. Did what I 
came to do — beat the best record. '^ Then he fell back 
exhausted. 

Connell had almost ceased to breathe. He was speech- 
less, and his heart was barely beating. His body was 
cold, and all sensation was gone. When they tried to 
revive him, he managed to speak, "Let me die in 
peace.'' Elison, with his hands and feet frozen off, had 
lain helpless in his sleeping-bag for seven months, kept 
alive by the kindness of his fellows, who gladly allowed 
him to have increased rations in his pitiable condition. 

" The faces of two of the men were so swollen," says 
Chief Engineer George W. Melville, " that they could 
scarcely see." He cleansed the eyes of one in warm water, 



AND OTHER ARCTIC EXPLORERS. 601 

and bade him look over towards the mast-heads across the 
rocks. Commander Schley said, '^ My man, don't you see 
the ships' masts ? Don't yon see the flags ? " 

^^ Please lift me up a little/' he urged huskily, "that 
I may see." Then catching sight of the colors, he cried, 
"Hooray! There is the old flag again." Tears of joy 
ran down his cheeks, as he was supported in his sleep- 
ing-bag. 

Greely was near to death. He could not stand, and 
for some time had not left his sleeping-bag. No food 
had passed the lips of any of them for forty-two hours, 
save a little water and a few square inches of soaked 
seal-skin. 

Colwell gave Greely and Elison a little of the biscuit 
which he had brought in his pocket. Then a can of 
pemmican was opened, and a little scraped off with a knife 
was fed to them slowly by turns. They could not stand, 
but had dropped on their knees, and begged piteously 
for more. A fire was made of charred wood lying about, 
the remnants of the boat which covered the hut, and beef 
extract warmed, and given them every ten minutes. 

The survivors could scarcely realize that they were 
saved. Their minds were enfeebled like their bodies. 
" This seems so wonderful," said Greely ; and when 
told that pictures of his wife and children were on 
board the Thetis, he added, " It is so kind and thought- 
ful." The men were carried on board the boats on 
stretchers, as they were unable to walk, and then rowed 
out a hundred yards or so to the ships. Greely fainted 
after being taken on board, but was Tevived by spirits of 
ammonia. His clothes were carefully cut off, and heavy 
flannels, which had been warmed, were put upon him. 

The bodies of the ten dead on the hill were dug up, 



502 GENERAL A. W. GBEELY 

wrapped in blankets, and carried tenderly on board the 
ships for a burial at their homes. The unburied bodies 
of Schneider and Henry Avere also brought ; but the five 
buried in the ice-foot, as well as the body of Jens, who 
was drowned in his kayak, could not of course be recov- 
ered, as they were swept away by the currents. Within 
the tent near each sleeping-bag were found little pack- 
ages done up and addressed to friends at home. The 
survivors had also made a like preparation, knowing 
that their turn would soon come. The packages were 
all carefully preserved. 

At four o'clock, June 23, the vessels started homeward 
with their precious freight. Elison died on the journey, 
at Godhavn, July 8, at three thirty a.m. The body 
of Frederick Christiansen of Upernavik was buried at 
Godhavn at the request of the Inspector of North 
Greenland. 

The ships reached St. Johns July 17, when telegrams 
were sent immediately to Hon. W. E. Chandler, Secre- 
tary of the Navy, by Commander Schley, and to Mrs. 
Greely by her husband. Throngs of people gathered on 
the streets to welcome the heroic explorers, and all shared 
in the feelings of Secretary Chandler, who telegraphed 
Commander Schley : '^ The hearts of the American 
people go out with great affection to Lieutenant Greely 
and the few survivors of his deadly peril. Care for 
them unremittingly, and bid them be cheerful and hope- 
ful on account of what life has in store for them.'' 

The six survivors, Greely, Brainard, Long, Bierder- 
l)ick, Connell, Frederick — Elison had died on the passage 
home — soon gained strength and a return to health. 
Lieutenant Greely gained fifty pounds in six weeks. 

The relief ships received an ovation at Portsmouth 



AND OTHEB ARCTIC EXPLORERS. 503 

Harbor^ IST.H. and then sailed for New York, where the 
bodies were formally delivered to General Hancock, 
representing the War Department. Two were taken to 
the Cypress Hills National Cemetery, Henry and Schnei- 
der. The former was buried there, and the latter sent 
to friends in Germany, 

The remains of Lock wood were forwarded to Annapo- 
lis, and placed under a military guard in the church of 
St. Anne, where he had been baptized and confirmed. 
He was buried in the cemetery of the Naval Academy. 
A tablet was erected to his memory in the handsome 
army chapel at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, chiefly at the 
expense of his old regiment. To one of the officers. 
General Lock wood presented a sword which had belonged 
to his son. 

Truly said his pastor in Georgetown, '^ Most fittingly 
did his brother explorers give his name to this spot, the 
farthest land north trod by human foot. Lock wood 
Island shall stand as long as the earth endures, amid the 
ample wastes and silence of these mysterious regions, 
as the monument of this brave young soldier.^^ He died 
as he had lived, honored for his gentleness, his affection- 
ate yet courageous heart, his unselfishness, and his 
nobility of soul. 

Not less did Greely commend the heroic Brainard 
for his " manhood, courage, and self-sacrifice, displayed 
on the Polar Sea and at Sabine.'^ His name will forever 
be associated with Lockwood in planting the flag, as yet, 
farthest north, and in his heroic devotion to the Greely 
party, which must have perished save for him and Fran- 
cis Long. 

The valuable scientific reports, magnetic, meteorologic, 
botanic, and those in natural history, of this Arctic 



504 GENERAL A. W. GBEELY 

expedition, have been transmitted by Lieutenant Greely 
to the government, and published. They were brought 
on the long and perilous journey from Conger to Sabine, 
and are a lasting monument to the ability and industry 
of the Greely party and its heroic leader. 

Concerning this dreadful life in the Arctic regions, 
Lieutenant Greely said at a reception in New York : 

^' I promised only that I would get to Sabine, and at 
Sabine I was found. In regard to the life that we spent 
on that barren rock — a life which was eked out, God 
only knows how — forty days' provisions being made to 
last for nine or ten m.onths, with what scanty subsist- 
ence we could draw from the surrounding rocks, it was 
a hell upon earth during all the five months of utter 
darkness. 

^^ The hut was so dark that for a week at a time, 
although I lay in a bag with two men, so closely packed 
that when one man turned over the others had to turn 
also, I was not able to see the face of the man to the 
right or the left. The only light we had was a wretched 
rag dipped in tallow oil. The walls were so low that 
when I sat in my sleeping-bag my head touched the 
roof. The bags froze to the ground. They were that 
way for five months. If vacated for ten minutes, they 
froze stiff inside. For ten months we never knew what 
it was to have our appetites satisfied. Yet all that time, 
with few exceptions, the men displayed such remarkable 
loyalty, such cheerfulness, and such a law-abiding spirit, 
that I think better of mankind for having lived with 
those men through that trouble. 

" For two or three mxonths at a time we never knew 
what it was to have a drink of water, except such as we 
could get by putting snow and ice in a rubber bag and 



ANB OTHER ARCTIC EXPLORERS. 605 

thawing it with the heat of our bodies. In that way we 
could get eight or ten spoonfuls at a time.'' 

The whole country rejoiced in the rescue of Greely 
and the five others who were saved. The President sent 
grateful words of thanks for himself and the nation ; and 
Queen Victoria, who had given the ship Alert, also sent 
messages of sympathy and inquiry. 

The Eoyal Geographical Society of London unani- 
mously awarded to Greely their highest honor, the 
Founders' Gold Medal for 1886, " for having so consid- 
erably added to our knowledge of the shores of the 
Polar Sea and the interior of Grinnell Land ; the first, 
through the exploration of the late Lieutenant Lockwood 
along the northern coast of Greenland, as far as 83° 23' 8'' 
N.W., being the nearest to the Pole ever attained, and 
the second, by his own explorations into the interior of 
Grinnell Land, together with the journey across it to 
the Western Sea, by Lieutenant Lockwood ; also for his 
admirable narrative of the expedition which he has just 
given to the world." 

This medal, publicly received by the American minis- 
ter, Mr. Phelps, was officially transmitted to Greely 
through the State and War Departments. 

The same year, 1886, Greely was awarded the Ro- 
quette Medal of Gold by the Geographical Society of 
Paris, forwarded through our minister to France. 

His native state, Massachusetts, also tendered him 
through her Senate and House of Representatives, 
^^ With just pride in his career and achievements," her 
thanks, " as a tribute to his patriotism, courage, and loy- 
alty as shown in his service as a volunteer soldier ; to 
his ability and zeal as a regular officer of the United 
States army, in dealing practically as well as theoreti- 



506 GENERAL A. W, GEEELY 

cally, both here and in the High North, with the varied 
scientific questions arising in connection with the sig- 
nal service ; to his prudence, patience, and enterprise as 
an explorer in solving geographical problems involving 
the progress of mankind in science and civilization, and 
in thus advancing the name of America to the foremost 
rank in scientific Arctic research ; and finally to his 
capacity and intrepidity as a commander in maintaining 
the courage, discipline, and unity of his command under 
most untoward, prolonged, and desperate circumstances." 

Lieutenant Greely was promoted to be captain in 
the 5th U. S. Cavalry, June 11, 1886 ; and in December 
of the same year, during the illness of General W. B. 
Hazen, the duties of acting chief signal oflBcer devolved 
upon him by law as the senior assistant. He was form- 
ally promoted to be brigadier-general, and chief signal 
officer of the army, March 3, 1887. 

General Greely has several times visited Europe, 
where he has received distinguished courtesies. He is an 
honorary member of several geographical and scientific 
societies, and has just been (1893) elected one of the 
faculty of the Columbian University in charge of the 
Department of Geography. 

General Greely has written extensively on scientific 
subjects, the Isothermal Lines of the U. S. Geography of 
the Air, Eainfall of the Pacific Slope and Western States 
and Territories, American weather, with chapters on 
Hot and Cold Waves, Blizzards, Hailstorms, etc., besides 
various articles in the Century, Scribner's, North Ameri- 
can Review, Forum, Science, and other magazines. 

General Greely is yet in middle life, under fifty, 
doing valuable work for the country, and enjoying the 
development in character of his four girls and two boys. 



AND OTHER ARCTIC EXPLORERS. 507 

Whatever experiences are before him, he can never for- 
get the dreadful months at Cape Sabine. His unselfish 
and brave record is before the world. 

Since General Greely's explorations, Dr. Nausen of 
Norway made the first crossing of Greenland from east 
to west. He was then a young man only twenty-seven, 
a graduate of the University of Christiania, and curator 
of the museum at Bergen. He started in May, 1888, in 
a sailing-vessel, arriving at Eeykiavik, the capital of 
Iceland. Here they took passage in a little steamer, 
landing on the shore ice of Greenland July 17. They 
were taken out to sea on an ice-floe, but finally returned 
and crossed Greenland, reaching Godthaab Oct. 3. For 
three or four weeks they were more than nine thousand 
feet above the level of the sea. 

" Our day's marches were," says Dr. Nausen, " as a 
rule, short, and varied between five and ten miles. 
The reason of this was the persistently heavy going. 
Had we come earlier in the season, say about midsum- 
mer time, we should have found an excellent hard and 
slippery surface, such as that we had during the first 
day or two of our ascent. On such a surface both ski 
and sledges would have run well, and the crossing could 
not have taken us long. Now, however, the old, hard- 
frozen layer was covered with a loose coat of freshly- 
fallen snow, which was as fine and dry as dust, or else 
packed by the wind in drifts, on the cloth-like surface 
of which both ski and sledge runners are very hard to 
move." 

When they came within sight of the western shore of 
Greenland, he says : " We were just like children, as we 
sat and gazed and followed the lines of the valleys 
downward in a vain search for a glimpse of the sea. It 



508 GENERAL A, W, GREELY 

was a fine country that lay before us, wild and grand as 
the western coast of Norway. Fresh snow lay sprinkled 
about the mountain tops, between which were deep, 
black gorges. At the bottom of these were the fiords, 
which we could fancy but could not see. 

'' Words cannot describe what it is for us to have the 
earth and stones again beneath our feet, or the thrill 
that went through us as we felt the elastic heather on 
which we trod, and smelled the fragrant scent of grass 
and moss. Behind us lay the ' inland ice,' its cold, gray 
slope sinking slowly toward the lake ; before us lay the 
genial land. Away down the valley we could see head- 
land beyond headland, covering and overlapping each 
other as far as the eye could reach.'' 

The last noted exploring expedition to the Arctic 
regions was that under Civil Engineer Robert E. Peary, 
U. S. N., in 1891. On June 6, 1891, the ship Kite, under 
Captain Richard Pike, who had taken the Greely party 
in the Proteus in 1881 and the Garlington relief 
party in 1883, sailed for Greenland. On July 24 she 
reached McCorniick Bay, where Peary established 
his winter-quarters, calling his little house Red Cliffe 
House, over which his young wife, Mrs. Josephine 
Diebitsch-Peary, presided, sharing with him its peril and 
its loneliness. Lieutenant Peary and his single compan- 
ion, Edward Astrup, in this exploring trip of thirteen 
hundred miles, found Greenland to be an island, whose 
general northern contours lie south of the eighty-third 
parallel. Besides the settlement of this mooted question 
about Greenland, says Prof. Angelo Heilprin, m Scrib- 
ner's for Jan. 1893, the Peary expedition '' has for- 
ever removed that tract from a consideration of compli- 
city in the main workings of the Great Ice Age. The 



AND OTHER ARCTIC EXPLORERS, 509 

inland ice-cap, which by many has been looked upon as 
the lingering ice of the Glacial Period, stretching far 
into the realm of the Pole itself, has been found to ter- 
minate throughout its entire extent at approximately the 
eighty-second parallel ; beyond this line follows a region 
of post glaciation — uncovered to-day, and supporting an 
abundance of plant and animal life, not different from 
that of the more favored regions southward.'' They 
reached within one hundred miles of the farthest north 
point attained by Lockwood and Brainard, and went two 
hundred miles on the north-eastern coast farther than 
any other human being ever attained. Most of the 
journey was on ice eight thousand feet above the level 
of the sea. 

The only unfortunate thing in connection with this 
expedition was the disappearance of the meteorologist 
and mineralogist of the North Greenland party, Mr. 
John T. Verhoeff. He was last seen on the morning of 
Aug. 11, 1892, when he stated his intention of visiting 
the Eskimo settlement of Kukan, across McCormick 
Bay. Not returning, a large party searched for him for 
seven days and nights. His footprints and some bits 
of paper were discovered near a rifted glacier now called 
the Verhoeff glacier, and it is probable that he was lost 
in some crevasse. Some of his friends still hope that 
he is alive. 



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